


The Seventh Avenger

by Starkgazing



Series: The Bourne Avenger [1]
Category: Bourne (Movies), Bourne Series - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: A seventh pov!, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avengers ReWrite, Because if there's one thing he's good at, Bruce Banner & Jason Bourne Friendship, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, He really just has another pov, I'm sorry okay that's so mean, It's avenging, Jason Bourne calls out the Avengers' shit, M/M, POV Multiple, Post-The Bourne Ultimatum, Where Jason Bourne is the seventh Avenger, but that's a good thing, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2018-12-14 06:34:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 33,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11777472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starkgazing/pseuds/Starkgazing
Summary: AVENGERS REWRITE // BOURNE AU"Director Fury, the mission was successful. Doctor Banner has officially agreed to join us.""But?" Natasha isn't surprised that he'd read through her statement so quickly.  Still, she hesitates."I can hear the 'but' in your report, Agent Romanoff. Now spit it out. What else did Doctor Banner want?""It wasn't something he wanted, exactly," Natasha says calmly. "He had... a friend with him. Someone who's agreed to join us as well.""Who?" The question comes off as broad, but the woman code named Black Widow knows better.Will they help or hinder us?"I'll send you the live report I recorded. I didn't recognize his face, and he never said his name."A beat passes, as Natasha sends the report to the director. Then, a caught breath."Jesus christ, that's Jason Bourne."In all the time that she's known him, Natasha has never heard Nick Fury sound so shocked before.»•«Or the one where Natasha finds not one, buttwoallies during her search in India. (Say hello to our seventh Avenger!)





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my first work in (both) these fandom! I recently rewatched the Bourne Trilogy and I absolutely adored it (probably my next favorite films series after the MCU), and then my sister gave me this idea... so here it is! 
> 
> I highly recommend watching all movies associated with this fic. That means all three original Bourne movies, aka "The Bourne Identity", "The Bourne Supremacy", and "The Bourne Ultimatum". Technically, you don't NEED to watch the movies (it's never stopped me before xD), but I don't guarantee understanding everything about Bourne (i.e. his past) if you don't. At least search up the plot of the movies if you can! That'll give you the best rundown. 
> 
> Whenever you're ready... enjoy!! :)

When Jason Bourne hears the whispers of an American doctor helping out in India, he's lived alone in the small city of Moa for almost two years.    
  
They aren't whispers, exactly, when he first learns of the man. They're more like ghosts of conversations that he'd accidentally overheard—offhand gossip that he'd put together to make something more.    
  
_ "Oh, your son seems very sick? Well, my niece was very sick a couple weeks ago, but a nice American doctor treated her free of charge." _ __  
__  
_ "Really? Here?" _ __  
__  
_ "No, not here in Goa. Much farther away. Closer to Calcutta." _ __  
__  
Calcutta, India was almost 40 hours away from Goa by car. Nearly 2200 kilometers. The man in question must have visited the other city in some family visit, but that short conversation was still enough to tip Jason off.    
  
Normally, he isn't one to follow gossip of any type, but he isn't oblivious, either. Jason has been trained to observe and adapt at the single most highest level—it simply isn't in his nature to ignore such a red flag. Why was some American doctor slumming it in India, when he could be making a life in his own country? Jason may have been trying to stay low, but he isn't blind to the facts.    
  
There was no doubt about it; the man was like him. A runaway. Someone in hiding. Someone who wouldn't want to, maybe even  _ couldn't,  _ get caught.    
  
And for whatever reason, Jason had a gut feeling that not all was as it seems. He knew that there was something bigger going on, something possibly even dangerous, if tampered with. What he couldn't figure out was why. How could a doctor almost 2200 kilometers away ever even hear of Jason Bourne? It wasn't like he was well known—he'd been keeping a low profile for years, and more than half the world thought he was dead anyway. He was  _ good  _ at staying under the radar. If the government couldn't find him, how could some runaway doctor ever do it?   
  
But still, Jason's instincts told him otherwise. This was potentially dangerous, he knew. He's used to this feeling, this premonition of incoming danger. It's saved his life multiple times in the past; warned him when someone was about to shoot him, moved him when he was about to be attacked. He trusts that feeling. If there's one thing he's good at, it's self-preservation. He's always been good at surviving; it's how he's made it this long, after all.    
  
Less than a week later, Jason finds himself all packed up and set for a road trip to Calcutta. 2200 miles of nothing but his car for company. How nice. The thought doesn't give him any excitement for his newest road trip, but he doesn't know why he's complaining anyway. He's always alone, and 40 hours was by far one of the shorter trips of his spectrum of car rides. He could handle it easily.    
  
Yet, in the back of his mind, he thinks of a talkative woman, with accented English and short red hair. He thinks of the extended car ride he'd bribed her to take him on when they'd first met, and he feels a pang of longing in his stomach. The feeling is gone in an instant, however, when his mind drifts over to his last car ride with her. The ride that had got her killed. When  __ he'd  gotten her killed.    
  
Shortly after that thought passes, he draws in a sharp breath. Then he lets his mind fall carefully blank. And that was the end of that.    


»•«

While packing for the trip, Jason brings along anything he deems of importance, because he isn't sure when exactly he'll be back. This included his gear, a decent wad of money, his passports, and a couple guns. Originally, he hadn't been sure if weapons were a necessity, but then he figured it wouldn't hurt to bring some anyway.    
  
Still, he hopes that it won't come to that. He doesn't know how searching for a doctor could possibly turn into a gunfight, but he's also found himself in worse for less in the past. Better to be prepared.    
  
Two days later, he touches down in Calcutta.    
  
It doesn't take Jason long to find the American doctor. "Doctor Banner" is how the man prefers to be addressed, and Jason finds himself at a loss with how easy it had been to find the man's name. One quick search while he'd been called away was enough to find all of Banner's basic information. Jason, however, stops himself there. The man was not yet an enemy, and Jason didn't want to dig through information that wasn't his to learn.    
  
He trails the man for 3 days afterwards, watching and observing every little thing. Throughout the whole thing, Jason found the situation very odd. For a man that was doing a grand total of absolutely  _ nothing  _ fishy, he was still setting off Jason's danger senses like nothing else.    
  
On the fourth day since he began trailing Doctor Banner, Jason notices that he's not the only one.   
  
Two men in suits—not exactly in inconspicuous—first appear that morning. When Jason first sees them, his first thought is,  _ how did they find me? _ but then he realizes that the agents aren't 

following  _ him.  _ They’re following  _ Banner.  _ __  
  
»•«

"We've located Banner," an agent says into the communicator on his shoulder.    
  
Jason is standing behind a tree near them; he's just close enough to hear, but not enough to be seen.    
  
"In Calcutta, India," says the other agent.    
  
American accents, both of them. Jason doesn't know their names, and he doesn't particularly care to know them either. He wonders what the good doctor did then, to get government agents to trail him.    
  
"He appears to be camping here, lying low," one of the agents says.    
  
Jason takes in both their forms and calculates the odds he'll have of defeating them. Both were right handed, and they didn't hold themselves like they knew how to fight.  It didn't even seem like there were any weapons on them, other than the basic guns that left obvious bumps at their hips. Both men stood stiffly, trading glances as their eyes roamed the dirt roads around them. They seemed uncomfortable, even a little scared. As if they'd been assigned here against their will. Jason relaxes minutely, calmly overhearing the conversation with supposedly their higher-ups. He could take them easily; he was sure of it. 

“How long should we follow him?” An agent asks.

Jason doesn’t hear the response, but apparently the answer was not what either of the agents had hoped, because suddenly both agents were letting out twin whines, despite both being full grown men. “We have to stay for  _ how _ long?!”

The conversation would’ve been comical if not for the apparent danger the doctor was now in. For all that the man seemed hunted, he sure didn’t seem to notice. Jason sighs inaudibly, only half paying attention to the now bickering agents. 

He’ll warn the doctor then, Jason decides. He’ll wait for the agents to look away, then get the doctor away himself.  _ Shouldn’t be hard,  _ he concludes. He’d already established the fact that the agents didn’t seem able to hold their own, and it wasn’t as if they had their heart in the mission anyway. Still, if they presented a larger problem, Jason would make sure they stayed away.  
But then—why was he doing all this? Because he had nothing better to do? Because it was the “right thing” to do? Why  _ was _ he working so hard to protect this man anyway, a man he didn’t even know?

_ Because he’s like you,  _ his mind supplies.  _ And it probably  _ is  _ the right thing to do.  _

_ Because Marie— _ He chokes on the familiar name. It floats through the air around him, whistling off into the breeze. There’s no one to hear his inward struggle now; both agents had long since left, and truthfully, he was in the middle of nowhere. 

_ Because Marie would want me to. Even if she didn’t know who we were trying to help. _

Jason thinks back to the last piece of advice she’d ever given him. Her dying words. 

_ “It’s never gonna be over like this,”  _ she’d told him, when he’d planned on retaliating. He’d wanted to kill them all. 

_ “We don’t have a choice,”  _ he’d replied.

_ “Yes, you do.”  _ That had been right before she’d been shot in the back.

But even after her death, even after Jason had been forced to leave her body floating in the middle of a river, he’d carried her last words with him.  _ He had a choice. _ And he would always have a choice.

So now, years later, Jason decides to make his choice now. He’ll save the doctor that the government seemed to have it out for, because the doctor didn’t seem to be a bad guy. Maybe it was finally time for him to make a choice to help someone else.   


»•«

It’s evening when Bruce finally returns to the room that he’d rented in Calcutta. He'd had a productive day, managing to help more than half a dozen families. Now, he was more than a little tired, blinking exhaustion out of his eyes as he ambled into his room. He'd been planning on coming in and instantly dropping to sleep on his bed. What he didn't expect was to see was a man sitting in his chair, just  _ sitting  _ there, with his hands clasped together and his elbows on his knees. 

Bruce nearly jumps out of his skin at the sight, jolting so hard that it takes him a moment to force down the urge to Hulk out. The Other Guy would  _ not  _ be helpful right now. 

For a moment, there’s just a stand off. The man says nothing. And then, “Don't be afraid. I'm not here to hurt you.” 

The man had pale skin and dark hair that appeared to be in a military cut. He was dressed in dark colors—darks pants, a dark shirt, and a dark jacket. He didn't  _ look _ like he was here to hurt Bruce, but Bruce knew that appearances weren't all as it seems. 

Bruce, guard up, addresses the elephant in the room, “Who are you and what are you doing in my room?”

The man makes no move of getting up, but he does unclasp his hands. “I know that you're hiding out here in Calcutta,” he says, and Bruce's draws in a breath. “Why, I'm not sure and I won't ask, but you're not alone. There are agents here. Watching you.”

“What?” Bruce sees a hint of green in the corner of eyes. Who was it this time? SHIELD? Why couldn't they just  _ leave him alone? _

“I'm here to warn you. I've seen two men, both most likely government agents. They've been sent to trail you, but I'm not sure if they'll be calling for more back up, or if they're meant to engage you.”

“They couldn't take me if they tried,” Bruce says with a sudden bout of vindictiveness. Let them come. Who were they to mess with him? He wasn't doing anything wrong. 

If the man is surprised by Bruce’s words, he doesn't show it. Bruce wonders if this was because the man knew about about the Other Guy, or if it was because he just didn't like to show emotion. But considering the man didn't appear to have any fear, Bruce was leaning towards the latter. 

“Why are you helping me?” Bruce finally asks. It hasn't slipped his mind that this might be a trick as well. 

“Because I know what it's like to be chased,” the man says. “And I know what it's like to just want to be left alone.”   


“I—” Bruce stops. He doesn’t know what to say.

“Look, you don’t have to take my word for this if you don’t want to.” The man abruptly stands. “But I’m telling you. Even if it’s just a precaution, even if only for a little while, you should leave Calcutta. Just long enough for those agents to lose your trail. Then you just need to lie low.”

“Okay,” Bruce says quickly. He didn’t see any problems with being precautionary—and it wasn’t like he was in any real danger anyway. The Other Guy would easily handle anything that the government or SHIELD wanted threw at them; the only problem was that Bruce didn’t  _ want _ the Other Guy to resurface. He’d do what was needed to keep his alter ego away for as long as possible. 

“You’ll leave Calcutta for a little while?” The man prods. “Lie low?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” The man nods. “Then, I’ve done what I came here to do. Good luck.” He makes a move for the door.

“Wait.” Bruce stops him, alarm bells ringing in his head. He’d just noticed the man’s gait, which wasn’t lopsided exactly, but it wasn’t perfect either. The man’s hand was also pressed tightly against his abdomen, as if he were suppressing a wound. And was that blood seeping through his dark clothing?

_ How did I not notice that before? _

“Are you… injured?”

»•«

_ Dammit. _ The warning that Jason had given Doctor Banner had gone perfectly. The man had even agreed to leave without further convincing. 

But then the doctor had noticed his wound. 

_ Sloppy.  _ Jason didn’t make mistakes. He made contingency plans, and the wound just happened to be one of them. 

A superficial knife wound was what it was, inflicted by Jason’s own hands into the skin of his abdomen. He’d made sure to angle it just right, missing any major arteries or veins and of course his organs. It was designed to bleed and only to bleed; it barely even held a sting, much less  _ hurt.  _ Yet, the wound was still a wound, and therefore it required some type of care. The care in question was that he needed to keep constant pressure on it, to ensure he didn’t bleed out too much. 

Jason had given himself the wound in case Doctor Banner refused to hear him out. If that had happened, he would've revealed his “injury” and thus bought more time to convince the other man. But it hadn't been needed. 

Yet, he'd still been caught. 

“Are you… injured?” Doctor Banner sounded more than alarmed. 

“It’s nothing,” Jason replies instantly, and it  _ was. _ “Just a small wound that's bleeding. I haven't gotten the chance to wrap it yet, that's all.”

“Get over here and sit down,” Doctor Banner orders. “I'm checking it out.  _ How did I not notice before? _ ” He mutters the last part, almost sounding upset with himself. 

“No,” Jason protests. “It's nothing. It's fine. You should leave, though. Who knows when they’ll come for you. You need to lose them as soon as possible.”

“They can wait,” Doctor Banner snaps. “Now get over here. I'm checking that out, whether you like it or not.”

Jason seriously doubts that the doctor could take him even if he wanted to, but something about the man’s tone makes Jason slowly turn around. The government wanted this guy right? What if he really could hold his own?

Jason does a double take on Doctor Banner—he takes a minute to reexamine the man’s build and stance. He notices that the doctor isn't particularly tall, and his build left less to be desired. He didn't have much muscle mass on him; neither did he did he seem to be quick on his feet. And although the doctor appeared to be decently fit (which Jason assumed was from all his running), he certainly didn't look trained in any way. He didn't even appear to have any weapons on him, so what did Jason have to be cautious of? 

Something. There was certainly _something_ to fear from the man. Jason just couldn't put his finger on what. Why did the doctor rub Jason such a wrong way? He's a master of noticing inconsistencies, little things that could lead up to the bigger picture—and that man wasn't _normal,_ Jason knew. 

Doctor Banner was… well, there was a danger to him. There was a danger to being  _ near  _ him. 

A tense moment passes, and then Jason decides to follow his instincts. He strides over to the bed, stiffly seating himself atop the bare mattress. His hand continues to press gingerly on his abdomen. 

“Good choice,” Doctor Banner mutters, making his way over to where Jason sat. He drops down at Jason’s side. “Lift your shirt.”

“You really should go,” Jason tries. 

Doctor Banner snorts. “I'll check out your wound, and then I'll go. Now lift up your shirt.” Jason obliges, and he peers at the bloody graze on Jason’s side. 

Jason almost sighs. Why waste all this time on a scratch?

“How did this happen anyway?” Doctor Banner asks offhandedly, as he takes a closer look at the wound. “This might sting.” 

He grabs some antibacterial wipes from the medical bag he'd dropped off by the door, then carefully wipes at and around the injury. 

Jason ignore the slight sting the wipes leave, choosing to answer Banner’s earlier question instead. “It's a knife wound. It was my fault.” He doesn't lie. 

Doctor Banner hums under his breath, reaching back into his bag for what looked like bandages next. “It isn't bad. You got lucky. It only nicked your skin.” 

_ I could've told you that, _ Jason wants to say, but he bites his tongue. “Thank you,” he says instead, because it was only polite. “Now if you want payment—”

“No,” Doctor Banner cuts Jason off graciously, finishing up on wrapping Jason’s side. “No, there's no payment. Consider it a thank you from me as well. For warning me.”

“Okay.” Jason nods. That was fair. 

He moves to get up, because his work here was done, but for the second time that day, Banner stops him. 

“Wait,” Doctor Banner says. “I have… a proposition.”

Jason stops. 

»•«

Bruce watches as the injured man freezes. He’s surprised the man had bothered to stop at all, but then again, that could just be due to Bruce’s admittedly poor phrasing. 

The man—and Jesus  _ Christ,  _ Bruce needed to know what to call him, instead of “the man”—doesn't say anything. He simply stands there, stares, and waits.  
Gathering his courage, Bruce offers, "Do you want to work with me?" 

Injured or not, there was no doubt the man had skills. Bruce didn't know how he'd gotten his injury, but he was pretty sure it had something to do with the agents after Bruce. That meant that the man could fight. 

He could probably even escape if the Other Guy decided to make an appearance, and maybe he could even help evacuate people as well. A companion like that could prove to be helpful. 

The man pauses, as if in thought. "Stay with you, you mean?" It sounded like he didn't want to mistaken what he was being offered.    
  
Bruce inclines his head. "Yes."   
  
"I've always worked alone," the man says, and it sounded true. Except, "Whenever I work with people, they always seem to die." The words come off as a statement, blunt and clear of emotion.    
  
Bruce wonders how a man could sound so blasé while talking about ally deaths, and for the first time he begins to second guess his offer. He knows he won't take it back, though. It was simply cruel to dangle something like this in front of another person—especially when offering things as meaningful as companionship or hope. 

"If it means anything, I'm very hard to kill."   


»•«

  
Well, there's that. Jason only spares himself one thought as to what that could possibly mean, then decides to give the doctor the benefit of the doubt. The man's past wasn't any of his business, and Jason had already decided that he wouldn't be the one to pry. He must have at least some sort of skill, if he had to escape all the way to India just to hide away.   
  
Jason allows himself a moment to seriously ponder the idea of working this man. Maybe this could work out. He hasn't had a companion in years, and if this man really  _ was _ hard to kill, then this could be beneficial for both of them.    
  
"On one condition," Jason finally says, "Neither of us are allowed to pry into each other's past."   
  
"Okay," Doctor Banner says. "But I have a condition as well.” He pauses, almost as if for effect. “Don't make me angry."   
  
There's a graveness in his voice that makes Jason pause as well. "Okay."   
  
After that, the doctor doesn't hesitate. He says, "Deal," and then sticks his hand out. "Doctor Bruce Banner."   
  
Jason stares at the outstretched hand for a second, then takes it with his own. "Jason," he says, shaking Doctor Banner's hand firmly, "Jason Bourne.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone else get Bourne/Banner vibes from this? I totally got that when I was writing it, and my sister saw it too haha. If you didn't, then that's fine because that's not our pairing here. This is pre-Tony/Jason obviously, but I plan to make it full Tony/Jason later in the series. (I also plan to rewrite most of the MCU where Jason Bourne is concerned.) Anyway, if you didn't get those vibes this chapter, then you just might next chapter. Although again, still not the pairing.
> 
> I've already written chapter two and that'll be up within the next couple days. I won't have a set schedule for this but it'll probably be 10 chapters max. I'll post every time I finish another chapter. 
> 
> _Next chapter: A look at Bruce and Jason’s newfound friendship, how they are in hiding, and then Natasha stops by to ruin their day. She does, however, come bearing a proposal. Also, we get to see Nick Fury s h o o k._
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, and I hope to see you again! :D


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all!! First of all I just wanted to say that I'm blown away by the response that this fic has gotten so far - I honestly didn't think I'd have much readers at all, so 18 kudos and a bookmark(!!!) is much more than I expected. I just want to personally thank all of you and especially the two people who commented as well... you guys rock! 
> 
> So I decided to post this chapter today because of the awesome feedback I got. Hope everyone enjoys!! :D

"So, what do you like to do?" 

Jason's head snaps up at Bruce's question. He straightens considerably from where he lays on their worn down couch. 

They're in some tiny house in nearby Calcutta, which Jason had rented for the night. By this point, they've stuck together for a couple months now. 

And although a couple months wasn't very long in the grand scheme of things, Bruce found that they'd somehow created a routine. A first name basis had quickly been established well into their first week of traveling together. 

Everyday for those first couple weeks, Jason had allowed Bruce to choose a new location. Wherever he wanted, Jason never seemed to care, and then they'd head there and the man would find them a house to hide out in. Every time. Without fail, Jason would find a house with a seemingly endless amount of money. 

Bruce couldn't understand it, but he figured he didn't need to either. No prying, right?

Afterwards, Bruce would spend the day finding people to heal, and Jason would spend it doing who knows what. Bruce wasn't sure, but he was under the impression that at least part of Jason’s time was spent checking out the perimeter and catching up on both local and worldwide news. 

That was another thing Bruce found himself surprised about—Jason’s heavy insistence of staying up to date on the news. It was odd; similarly, Bruce kept up to date, but admittedly he didn't check as frequently, mostly due to the language barrier. There just wasn't that much English papers in India. 

Jason, however, had no such problem. He made sure to find a newspaper source every single day, having no apparent problem with whatever language he found them in. 

It was just something to add to list of wonders for Jason Bourne. Somehow, the man could fight, speak plenty of languages, coincidently have a supply of money at all times, and also stay under the radar as he pleased. Not to mention his incredible observation skills. It was almost like the man was  _ made _ for lying low, but Bruce knew that wasn't the case. Maybe Jason was something else—not that it mattered at all to Bruce, who would stay true on his word not to pry. 

Otherwise, life continued on as it should. During their second month of traveling around, Jason began allowing them to stay in places for a longer period of time. They'd stay in and around Indian towns for a couple days on end, Bruce doing his thing and Jason doing his own. 

That continued until the third month, when Jason had offered Bruce the chance to return to Calcutta. He'd told Bruce that it was probably safe, stating, “The government agents will be gone by now, undoubtedly. If we returned to Calcutta and continued to lay low, they won't expect it. They'll be searching in other places; it's unusual to check the same place twice.”

So now here they were, on the outskirts of Calcutta just to be safe. Bruce has since once again picked up his free physician services, under the radar this time, and he made it a point to encourage his patients not to spread word about him. To his knowledge, most (if not all) of them agreed, not wanting to jeopardize his services. 

Bruce found that he also quite enjoyed living this new hideaway life. Jason not only gave him the company that he’d so direly missed, the other man also cleared for him most of the hardships that came with running to another country as well. 

Really, Bruce thought that teaming up with Jason Bourne was the best thing he could've done.

»•«

“Jason?”

Bruce casts a glance over to Jason's almost slackened form, which he knew was never  _ actually  _ relaxed. The man was laying down with his arm on his face, elbow creased over his eyes. 

Bruce wasn’t positive, but he was pretty sure the other man was nursing a fairly strong headache. 

Sometime into their escape together, Jason had revealed the fact that he always had constant headaches, adding that, “They’re always there, but they’re not usually that bad. No worries. Sometimes they get much worse, but I’m used to that, too.”

Bruce had stared, shocked that the man had shared such a private part of himself, then promptly asked, “Why? Did you tell me, I mean.”

Jason had shrugged. “I figured we can’t live in secrecy forever. And besides, you’re a doctor. If there’s anyone I should tell, it’s you.”

Bruce hadn’t been able to argue with that, instead offering Jason some painkillers. 

“No,” Jason had dismissed. “I don’t like taking those.”

And Bruce hadn’t questioned it.

Now, fast forward to present time, and Jason’s eyes were resting questioningly on Bruce. 

"Hmmm?" He vocalizes.

Bruce shrugs sheepishly. "Hobbies? Do you have any of those?" He awkwardly adds, “I'm just curious, so you don't have to answer if you're uncomfortable. It's just, we've been hiding out for a month already, and I still don't know much more than your name. We should start… somewhere.”

"I used to... travel. A lot." Jason's answer is simple. 

Bruce resonates with this instantly. He could easily understand the need to travel after being forced away. "I see. I did a lot of that as well. Where have you been?"

"I've been to a lot of places. Some places I can't even remember," Jason chuckles to himself, as if he had an inside joke, "I probably would've traveled more, if I wasn't here."

This piqued Bruce's interest. "Where would you have gone if you weren't here?" 

"I was thinking of Greece next, actually," Jason says. "But I didn't want to leave India for awhile." He leaves it at that, and Bruce decides not to question it. 

"What would you have done in Greece?" 

Jason's eyes lower to the ground, then they rise to meet Bruce's head on. Almost like a challenge. "There are a lot of fight groups in Greece. Boxing groups. Easy to join in; easy to lose yourself in."  _ Easy to punish yourself with,  _ goes unsaid. 

Bruce wonders what could've possibly happened to Jason for him to want to punish himself so badly. He chooses not to ask, figuring he knows a thing or two in that department, at least.    


Jason suddenly clears his throat. “Actually, there was something I wanted to mention. About traveling, I mean.” 

“Yes?” 

“I think I want to go back. To Goa,” Jason begins. “I mean… we've been together for months now and I think you’ve gotten the hang of lying low, for the most part. So you could—”

“Wait,” Bruce interrupts. He needs clarification. “Are you asking to leave me, or are you asking me to come with you?”

“Both,” Jason says, then seems to rethink it. “I mean neither. I'm telling you that I'm thinking of going back to Goa, so I can pick up some of my old stuff. You don't have to come with me. You've got a steady business going on here, and you're good enough at hiding now that I don't think you'll give yourself away.”

“Oh.” Bruce breathes a sigh of relief. “So you'll only leave for a little while, then?”

“Yeah. And it doesn't have to be now, either. I can leave later. I figured I'd just warn you now.”

“Okay.”

Jason leaves Calcutta for a week long round trip for more supplies in Goa a few weeks later. He isn't lying when he says that Bruce’s hiding ability has improved; he really does think that Bruce could lay low well enough on his own. That's why he doesn't expect to come back to anything less than open,  _ attached _ arms from the doctor. 

What he gets instead is… worse. Much,  _ much _ worse. 

»•«

When Jason returns to Calcutta, he immediately knows that something is off. The place doesn’t feel right; it takes him all of two seconds to realize why. There were people here, Jason realizes, coming for Bruce. 

A lot of people, too—Jason picks out  _ hoards _ of people who don't match the usual Calcutta crowd. 

He needed to find Bruce  _ now.  _

Jason does a quick job of searching their rented house (which curiously wasn't ransacked), then he checks Bruce’s usual hangouts spots. Nothing. 

That meant that, assuming they  _ had  _ found Bruce, they would’ve gotten to him while he was out on the job. Taking that into account, Jason changes plans.

Where before he was leading his own search, he decides now to follow one of the poorly disguised agents in the hope that they’ll lead him to Bruce instead. It only takes trailing one agent for a couple minutes before Jason’s led to a convergence of agents on the outskirts of Calcutta. When they finally slow to a stop, Jason is struck speechless by what he sees.

There’s a  _ squadron  _ of agents—of what must be over fifty—all heavily armed and all appearing to surround a tiny house. Jason assumes that that must be where they were keeping Bruce.

Not for the first time, he thinks,  _ Bruce, what did you  _ do?

»•«

Bruce isn’t sure  _ what _ he did, to suddenly attract the government’s attention while Jason was away. 

_ It must’ve been me,  _ he thinks, wanting to kick himself. Why else was he now alone in what should’ve been neutral ground? He had no back up through Jason, and he might just have to call on the Other Guy to get himself out of this mess. 

Problem is, he’ll probably accidentally destroy Calcutta while he’s at it.

_ Dammit!  _ He should’ve just lied low while he was waiting for Jason to return. Or accompanied him. There was no way he would’ve been caught if he had.

“You know, for a man who’s supposed to be avoiding stress, you picked a hell of a place to settle,” the red haired woman in front of him says.

She was a SHIELD agent, Bruce knew instantly. And from the looks of it, she was here to charm him into listening to her, but would also be able to fight should the need arise. 

She was also scared, Bruce could also tell. Of what he could turn into, and of what the Other Guy could do. He would use that to his advantage. 

“Avoiding stress isn’t the secret,” he replies. Although if it was, she certainly wouldn't be helping.

“Then what is it?” She questions. “Yoga?”

Bruce found himself sick of this small talk. 

»•«

It isn't hard for Jason to get past all the people with weapons around the house that Bruce was in. All of them—and he means  _ all _ of them—seemed to be so focused on whoever was coming out, that they didn't care for whoever was coming in. 

_ What gave us away, _ Jason wonders as he loops around to the back.  _ Did Bruce accidently do it while I was gone? _ It was too late to find out now, anywho, but he was just glad to have made it back in time to be able to help Bruce. 

Jason stops near a back window, one that gave him a decent view of the inhabitants inside the house, but didn’t reveal him to the agent inside. There were no agents in the back here; Jason guesses it's because there were no entrances here either. 

Jason stops at the foot of the window, peeking in. 

There's a woman in there, lean with red hair, who—from her build and stance—appeared plenty able to hold herself in a fight. She seemed to be alone with Bruce, who looked as agitated as ever. Jason thinks back to his first conversation with Bruce, when he'd been warned not to get the doctor angry. Jason doesn’t know what exactly he should expect to happen, but Bruce sure looked close to ‘angry’ to Jason. 

Seemed as if the woman never got the same memo. 

“You brought me to the edge of the city,” Bruce is saying. “Smart. I, uh… assume the whole building is surrounded?”

_ Good.  _ Bruce had figured that one out quickly. Jason didn’t know how he could’ve warned him otherwise. 

“Just you and me,” the red haired woman corrects.  _ Liar,  _ Jason thinks. Strike one. 

“And your actress buddy? She was five, too—they start that young?” Jason didn’t know who Bruce was referencing, but he assumed she was the one who had tricked Bruce into this trap.

“ _ I _ did,” the woman says, as if that were explanation enough. 

“Who are  _ you? _ ” Bruce asks the question of the day.

“Natasha Romanoff.”

Bruce’s eyes roam around the room, blinking and flickering to a new portion every second. He fidgets from where he stands, never stopping his eyes nor his limbs. The act fit perfectly with his agitation, so the woman—Natasha—didn't pay it any mind. That, and she also seemed to be focused on something else. 

She was scared, Jason knew. But of what, he didn't know. Was Bruce  _ that _ scary when he was angry? 

Momentarily, Bruce’s eyes land on Jason’s hidden form, standing outside the window. They only hover for a second, Bruce blinking in what must've been shock, before moving on again. 

Jason himself scans the room for any escape routes. The place left less to be desired, but still, Jason has worked with less. He could probably create an explosion or a fire as a distraction, then get Bruce to duck down while it happened, watching his back until they had necessary cover. Then they could escape. 

But the problem with that plan was that Jason was operating under the assumption that they both  _ didn't  _ get shot full of bullets in the meantime. Jason could probably also start a fire from the outside, but then Bruce would be at risk of being trapped inside, so that was out as well.   


Ultimately, their biggest asset would be the fact that Jason was there at all. He was sure nobody knew that Bruce had back up, and he would use that to their advantage. But in order for him to be of any use at all, he had to  _ be  _ there for Bruce. Then he might be able to hold the woman off while Bruce escaped, or they could at least make a plan from there.

In other words, Jason needed to get inside. He looked to Bruce for that part. 

_ I'm here, but I need a distraction,  _ Jason wills Bruce to know,  _ So I can get inside.  _

Bruce doesn't nod, but from the way his body seems to straighten, Jason knows he's gotten the message. Jason prepares himself for a quick sneak inside, fingering his gun absently, and waits. 

“Are you here to kill me, Ms. Romanoff?” Bruce says, almost casually. “Because that’s not gonna work out. For anyone.”

“No, no. Course not. I’m here on behalf of SHIELD.” Ms. Romanoff was very quick to reassure, Jason noticed.

“SHIELD—”  _ SHIELD?  _ Jason thinks. “—How’d they find me?

“We never lost you, doctor.”  _ Liar,  _ again. That was strike two. “We just kept our distance. We helped to keep some other interested parties off your scent.”

Bruce hums eerily. “Sure, sure. Why?”

Ms. Romanoff seemed taken aback by Bruce’s obvious dismissal. “Nick Fury seems to trust you,” she tries. “But now we need you to come in.” 

_ For what? _

“What if I say no?”

“I’ll persuade you.” Ms. Romanoff gives Bruce a small, charming smile.

“And what if… the Other Guy says no?” Bruce questions. 

Jason falters. The “Other Guy”? Who was that? Was Bruce giving Jason away? 

Why would he give away their only advantage?

“You’ve been more than a year without an incident. I don’t think you’ll wanna break that streak.” 

But it didn’t sound like they were talking about Jason Bourne. Maybe they really were talking about someone else. Still, who could that be? And what did she mean, “a year without incident”? 

What was Jason missing?

“Well, I don’t every time get what I want,” Bruce says. 

“Doctor, we’re facing a potential global catastrophe.” Well, that was new.

Bruce laughs meanly. “Haha, well those I actively try to avoid.”

Ms. Romanoff doesn’t seem deterred. She pulls a phone out of her pocket and shows him a preset picture—Jason can’t see that well from his spot outside the window, but he’s pretty sure it’s a blue cube.

“What does Fury want me to do?” Bruce barks, after giving the picture a quick onceover. “Swallow it?”

“He wants you to find it,” Ms. Romanoff says, and Jason thinks,  _ Oh. _

“It’s been taken,” she continues, “It emits a gamma signature that’s too weak for us to trace. There’s no one that knows gamma radiation like you do. If there was… that’s where I’d be.”

“So Fury isn’t after a monster?” Bruce says slowly. 

_ A monster?  _

“Not that he’s told me.”

“And he tells you everything?” Bruce laughs dryly.

“Talk to Fury,” Ms. Romanoff redirects. “He needs you in on this.”

“He needs me in a cage?” Bruce’s eyes flash. Jason sees his signal.

He tightens his grip on his gun and gets ready.

“No one’s gonna put you in a—”

Bruce cuts her off. 

“STOP LYING TO ME!” He roars, and then two things happen at once. 

Ms. Romanoff flinches, instantly stands, and then points a gun at Bruce’s face. Jason slips easily into the room, falling in with the shadows. 

Ms. Romanoff doesn’t notice.

“I’m sorry, that was mean.” Bruce’s voice doesn’t sound sorry at all. Jason almost wants to laugh. “I just wanted to see what you’d do.”

Natasha, stiff, doesn’t lower her gun. Neither does she notice the gun Jason’s now got pointed at her. But Jason  _ does  _ notice how the agents outside have begun to converge around the building, of course being careful not to stand in front of the window. 

Jason tilts his head in warning. Bruce tilts his head back.

“I just wanted to see what you’d do,” Bruce continues seamlessly. “Why don’t we do this the easy way, where you don’t use that, and the Other Guy doesn’t make a mess, okay? Natasha?” 

There was the “Other Guy” again. Jason figures Bruce sure had a lot of explaining to do when this whole thing was over. It wasn’t prying if their lives were in danger, right?

Natasha peers at Bruce searchingly, as if wondering if she could take his word on this. Finally, she slowly lowers her gun. She tilts her head to her shoulder, then mutters something under breath. Jason knows she must be telling her backup to stand down. He’s proven right when he sees everybody outside lower their weapons.

“Just you and me, right?” Bruce’s cocks his head in parody of innocence. 

Everyone in the room knew that they weren’t really alone. It was only Ms. Romanoff who didn’t know how un-alone she really was.

“So tell me, Ms. Romanoff. Just how much does SHIELD need me?” 

“It isn’t just SHIELD, Doctor Banner.” Romanoff says. “It’s the world.”

_ Sweet words. _

Bruce peers behind Romanoff’s shoulders to get a good look at Jason. 

Jason knows instantly, as their eyes meet, that Bruce isn't asking for permission to go; he’s already made his choice. He’s asking if Jason would like to accompany him. 

Jason gives the barest of nods, steeling himself as he makes an irrevocable decision. He leaves his gun trained on Ms. Romanoff’s head. 

Bruce clears his throat. 

"Okay. I'll go," a look of barely concealed relief passes Ms. Romanoff’s face, "Under one condition.

"That is?" Ms. Romanoff’s voice is cool, clipped. Jason doesn't know why she bothers; she’s already explained just how much they needed Doctor Banner—no doubt she and SHIELD would bend over backwards to accommodate for him. 

Jason chooses that moment to come out of the shadows, gun in hand but pointed to the ground. Non-threatening. 

"Me."   
»•«

Later, in the company of no one, Natasha finds herself struggling to recover from shock. 

Doctor Banner _hadn't_ been alone, he'd had a man with him, who he also apparently refused to be parted from. And the man in question was—well she didn't know who he was or even his name, but she did know that he was _good_. At sneaking in, at staying quiet… 

He hadn't been in the room when she'd first entered, she knew. Yet somehow, he'd ended up behind her. Possibly even with a gun pointed at her. And she hadn't  _ noticed.  _

She needed to report to Director Fury, ASAP. 

»•«

"Director Fury, the mission was successful. Doctor Banner has officially agreed to join us."  
  
"But?" Natasha isn't surprised that he'd read through her statement so quickly.  Still, she hesitates.   
  
"I can hear the 'but' in your report, Agent Romanoff. Now spit it out. What else did Doctor Banner want?"  
  
"It wasn't something he wanted, exactly," Natasha says calmly. "He had... a friend with him. Someone who's agreed to join us as well."  
  
"Who?" The question comes off as broad, but the woman code named Black Widow knows better. _Will they help or hinder our plan?_ __  
  
"I'll send you the live report I recorded. I didn't recognize his face, and he never said his name."  
  
A beat passes, as Natasha sends the report to the director. Then, a caught breath.   
  
"Jesus christ, that's Jason Bourne." 

In all the time that she's known him, Natasha has never heard Nick Fury sound so shocked before. 

"Who is Jason Bourne?" She questions, not knowing what to expect.  _ And why don't I know him? _

"He's an ex-assassin for a U.S. Black-Ops program of the CIA," Fury says. "An agent they trained that went AWOL a couple years back. He supposedly got amnesia and then systematically tore down the government program that had trained him and made him into an assassin. Last anyone checked, Jason Bourne was dead. He was reportedly shot while jumping off a ten story roof, into East River. Obviously, that story either isn't true, or he survived. They never did find the body."   
  
“Well, obviously he isn't dead, if he's hanging around Doctor Banner,” she says. 

“That’s true.”

“We wondered how Doctor Banner was able to evade all of our intel forces over the last few months. I guess we've found our explanation,” she reports.

“Also true.”

Natasha queries, “Now tell me, Director. Was this ‘Jason Bourne’ considered as a SHIELD agent? He certainly seems skilled enough.”

“Oh, he’s certainly skilled. To my knowledge, Bourne has killed everybody that anybody has sent at him. He's the absolute best in the business of survival, and it's impossible to find him if he doesn't want to be found. I assume he didn't appear for Banner until the last second?”

Fury was avoiding answering her question, Natasha knew. “Yes,” she answers, somewhat impatiently. 

“Then it's safe to assume that what gave Banner away wasn't a mistake on Bourne’s part; he probably left very briefly and then Banner gave himself away. That would've been when he reappeared on our radar.”

“That adds up,” Natasha says, even though it wasn't at all what she wanted to hear. She repeats, “But was he considered as a SHIELD agent?”

“You mean before he whistleblew the CIA and compromised almost every Black-Ops program they had, simultaneously incurring the wrath of both the CIA and the _ entire American government?  _ Yes.” Director Fury pauses, but Natasha has gotten her answer. 

“Will he be considered now?”

“Oh, you didn't let me finish, Agent Romanoff. Mr. Bourne hadn't just been considered as a SHIELD agent, we’d been ready to offer him so much more. He was originally considered for the Avenger’s Initiative.”

Natasha’s jaw drops. 

“But I don't understand.” Natasha doesn't fumble over her words, but she does say them a little flusteredly. “You had me check all the files for the Avengers Initiative. There were six—Doctor Banner, Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye, and me. There was no Jason Bourne.”

“Because by the time you joined in on fielding them, Jason Bourne was already pronounced dead.” Fury pauses. Natasha feels a sense of dread. “But that doesn't seem to be the case now.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how was it? I don't know how I did with this (transitions in particular), so any constructive criticism is welcome. Otherwise, just tell me what you think! (Also: I don't know if any of you guys noticed, but I wrote the Bruce-Natasha conversation almost exactly as how the movie went, just with Bourne input. I meant to do that, obviously, and for the rest of this fic I'll be attempting to use the actual conversations for most major scenes as well, but modified if needed of course.)
> 
> You can expect the next chapter to be up in two days, on Tuesday the 15th of August. Then I'll be gone for the rest of the week on a trip. :) No worries - I'll try to write while I'm gone! (But no promises, because I'm not actually sure how much time I'll have for that.) I just wanna say, again, thank you SO MUCH to everyone reading this. Hope you continue to follow Jason as his journey picks up. ^-^
> 
> _Next chapter: The crew touches down at SHIELD. Hello helicarrier! (SOMEONE *cough* Bruce *cough* has some explaining to do.) We also get the introduction of our dear Captain, oookooh!_
> 
> [I'm not sure if anyone noticed but I this chapter is reposted because I accidently forgot copy-n-paste an important part of it earlier today, haha]


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy, how's everyone doing? I just wanna thank every single one of you for the kudos and comments I got last chapter - I'm so glad you all enjoyed it! :D
> 
> Let's cut to the chase; here's chapter three for you!

Jason surprises himself when he agrees to go with Bruce to SHIELD. 

Apparently, he isn't the only one surprised. 

“Why are you here?”

Bruce is looking over at a still Jason sitting beside him, in a tiny corner of the tiny jet they were traveling in. 

Jason found himself surprised by the small, yet extremely fast jet. Since when was that invented? Maybe he'd been away for longer than he thought. 

Then again, this was certainly a government issued jet. “SHIELD”, as Bruce and Ms. Romanoff had called them. They probably just used exceedingly high tech. He figures, if a man could make a fully functional,  _ flying  _ suit of armor, a smaller, faster jet must be possible as well. 

When Jason doesn't respond, Bruce taps him on the shoulder. “Jason,” he says, ever the patient doctor. “Why are you here? With me? You don't have any reason to be here.”

“You volunteered me,” Jason tries to point out. 

“Oh no, don't put this one on me. I saw the look on your face. You had every plan on accompanying me. I just made it easier for you,” Bruce says. “Now come on. Why are you here?”

He didn't know, really. Why was he there, attempting to fight the good fight?  _ Maybe because you volunteered for something  _ wrong _ last time. And now you want to do something  _ right _.  _ He didn't know if that was true, but he figured that it must be the closest thing to the truth. 

But for that matter, why was Bruce here? Why did they come all that way for some doctor?  _ Unless…  _

Suddenly, it's like everything in Jason’s mind clicks. 

“Why are you here?” Jason voices his thoughts. “I think I deserve an explanation before you ask me for mine.”

Bruce splutters. “You heard them. They want me because I'm the leader in gamma radiation study. You knew that.”

That was true. Shortly after Jason and Bruce had begun teaming up, Bruce  _ had _ revealed that he was a gamma radiation scientist, although he hadn't added much else. 

“I did,” Jason says evenly. “But who’s the ‘Other Guy’?”

Bruce chokes. “I—”

“I don't think I'm breaking the no prying rule if I know I'm going to find out soon anyway,” Jason adds helpfully. 

“Okay.” Bruce sighs. “The Other Guy is… well. Have you heard of something called the Hulk?”

Jason frowns. “You mean the giant green rage monster that destroyed—what was it?—Harlem? Yes, I've heard of him.”

“The Hulk… is me. He's the Other Guy.”

A moment passes in absolute silence. 

Then Jason says, “Oh.”

“You… don't sound that surprised.” Bruce narrows his eyes accusingly. 

Jason shrugs. “Since when do I ever?”

“That's not the point, and you know it,” Bruce argues. “You should be more surprised than this. You just found out that your friend is secretly a monster. That has to garner  _ something. _ ”

“Maybe it is garnering something and you just don't see it,” Jason says, and he almost sounds  _ teasing.  _

Bruce stares. “The man who you stayed with for ‘mutual benefit’ just revealed that he could've killed you while you were working together, and you just… you're not even surprised?”

“For the record, I don't think that's a valid argument at all. Technically speaking—at least to my knowledge at that point, I could've ‘killed’ you at any time as well.”

“Jason.” Bruce sighs. “Tell me. Why aren't you surprised? When did you figure out?”

“Bruce…” Jason starts. 

Bruce gives him a warning glance. Jason's lie dies before it parts his lips. 

“I suspected as much, okay?”

Bruce shudders. In almost muted shock, he says, “When?” 

“No. Stop it, and let me finish. I'm not going to ditch you.” Jason is quick to find the problem and address it. “Think about it. You're the leader in gamma radiation, and a man went into hiding after a gamma radiation experiment went wrong. That's when I first began to suspect something was up, but it wasn't just that. Bruce, you  _ give off  _ danger. I'm someone who has a sense for danger, so I knew there was something dangerous about you from the start. I knew what I was getting into. But back then, I didn't think it was that big.

“I put two and two together just earlier, though. Probably almost a minute ago. Let me remind you that I was listening in on your conversation with Ms. Romanoff. She mentioned the ‘Other Guy’ several times, so who was I supposed to think of? You know I stay up to date on the paper; I  _ knew _ who the Hulk was. I just didn't know the scientist’s name. It wasn't a far leap to assume it was you. Why else would you have called yourself a ‘monster’?”

“So you know then,” Bruce says bitterly. “You know that I'm a monster.”

“I know that you aren't, actually,” Jason points out. “I've never met the Hulk; I've only ever met you. And I know that you're the farthest thing from a monster.”

What he doesn't say is this,  _ At least you became the Hulk accidentally. At least you didn't volunteer to kill people like me.  _

Bruce sucks in a breath. “Are you afraid?”

“Of you?” Jason says calmly. “No.”

“How about of the Other Guy?”

“Like I said, I haven't met him yet.” Jason doesn't do false reassurances. He only tells the truth. 

»•«

It’s odd, how well Jason’s way of blunt reassurances seems to work. Bruce certainly found himself reassured. So reassured, in fact, that he actually  _ forgets _ the original question he'd been asking Jason. 

“Wait, you never answered my question—”

“Hmmm?” Jason has the tiniest of smirks on his face. 

“Jason, why did you—”

“Doctor Banner, Mr. Bourne.” Bruce turns to see Natasha Romanoff standing a couple feet away from where they sit. “We'll be landing in just under a minute.” And then she's gone. 

For a moment Bruce wonders if the woman had maybe listened in on their private conversation. He drops the thought as soon as it comes, figuring Jason would know if they’d had an unwanted listener.

“Guess we don’t have enough time for any long explanations,” Jason says, with a full body shrug. 

The gesture is so mocking and smug, Bruce finds himself blanching. “Oh, we’re coming back to this topic.”

“Sure, sure,” Jason says smoothly. “Now get ready for the landing.”

Bruce reluctantly does so. 

The jet swoops lower and touches the ground effortlessly. 

Bruce stands, knowing Jason would be only a step behind him. 

Bright light fills the tiny jet, as the door slowly opens. Bruce sees a broad open concrete space with people scrambling around outside, with helicopters and jets similar to the one they were on resting on scattered in between.

The place looked almost like a military base. 

Just as Bruce and Jason were about to disembark the jet, Natasha steps smoothly in front of them, partially covering the light. 

“Doctor Banner, Mr. Bourne.” 

When she repeats both their names, Bruce realizes that he hasn't seen Jason introduce himself just yet. How did she know his name? 

_ They must've been snooping,  _ Bruce thinks crossly. But how deep had the dug? He wonders, how well could you figure out someone's identity from only their face?

Just how famous  _ is  _ Jason Bourne?

»•«

Jason had noticed Ms. Romanoff's use of his name the minute she'd said it. He also notices Bruce's realization after she repeats it. 

He's not entirely surprised that they'd figured out his identity so quickly. Hadn't he been on the news after he'd gotten Pamela Landy to release those files? The most surprising part for them must've been his survival. 

“Before you come out to meet everyone, I think you should be informed of who will be joining us.”

Bruce nods weakly at the suggestion, still apparently taking in their surroundings. Or maybe he was still pondering over Jason’s discovered identity. Jason knew it  _ had _ to still be on his mind. 

Honestly, the small glimpse that Jason had gotten of their landing spot had left him a little speechless as well. This place—this massive strip of concrete—really did remind him of something, but he didn't know of what. He feels his headache flaring to life as he attempts to put a finger on what he was thinking. Why did it remind him of something? Was he getting another memory?

“Who should we expect?” It seemed that Bruce had finally recovered from his shock, because the question comes out easily and confidently. 

Jason steels himself the same way, tuning out of his headache and of his thoughts in order to listen to the conversation at hand. He’ll sort that out later. 

“There will, of course, be SHIELD agents all over the ship. Additionally, I don't know if you've heard, but we've recently rediscovered Captain America.”

“How did you ‘rediscover’ Captain America?” Bruce’s tone sounds dubious at best. 

Jason didn't even know who Captain America was. 

“You remember how we lost him in the war some 70 years ago? Well, thanks to his super serum, he didn't die when he landed in the ice. He slept for that time instead, in suspended animation, you could say.”

At least that added up to why Jason didn't know him—Jason’s only been keeping up with recent news, via newspaper and any time he could connect to internet. Why would modern news mention an age old hero?

He chooses not to mull on the fact that the phrase “age old hero” was now apparently part of his life now. Since when had his life taken such an insane turn?

“And he's here. With us. Right now?” There seemed to be a mixture of disbelief and awe in Bruce’s voice. 

“Correct,” Romanoff says. “And he’ll join us, soon enough.”

“Wow okay,” Bruce breathes. “So who else?”

“The other person of interest… is Tony Stark.”

_ Tony Stark?  _

Oh, Jason  _ knew _ Tony Stark. Of every paper that Jason got ahold of, nearly every one has been headed by Mr. Tony Stark. Supposedly, “The Invincible Iron Man”. 

_ Now  _ he's  _ someone to meet,  _ Jason finds himself thinking, almost eagerly. The man was a genius, and Jason knew his tech would be nearly unparalleled. Not only would the meeting be interesting, it could be a  _ helpful.  _

“Tony Stark?” Bruce says wondrously. “As in genius, Tony Stark. CEO of Stark Industries, Tony Stark.  _ Iron Man,  _ Tony Stark.”

“That would be the one,” Agent Romanoff says coolly. “He'll also be the one assisting you as you search for the Tesseract.”

“Wow,” Bruce breathes, obviously unsure of what else to say. Jason isn't sure how to describe Bruce’s tone—there’s wonder and awe, undoubtedly, but does he also hear confusion? 

It makes sense, Jason decides. After all, from what he knew, Mr. Stark was no gamma radiation expert. He was an engineer. 

“Is that all?” Jason finally cuts in. For most of the conversation so far, Jason had stayed comfortably silent; the only sign to show that he’d been listening was a clockwork nodding of his head. 

Bruce’s eyes dart to Jason’s steady form, seemingly sensing his impatience. Then Bruce’s eyes flicker over to Agent Romanoff’s matching stance, from where she blocks the doorway. 

“Yes,” Bruce agrees amiably. “Are these two the only persons of interest?”

“As of right now, yes,” Romanoff says, almost cautiously. 

Jason immediately picks up on her wording, as does Bruce. They trade glances silently.

_ Interesting,  _ he finds himself thinking.  _ So there could be more people, later.  _ He files that important tidbit of information away.

Natasha clears her throat. “If both you gentlemen are ready, we can leave the quinjet now.”

That successfully shakes both men out of their thoughts. Bruce glances briefly at Jason, and then he nods. 

“We’re ready.”

As Agent Romanoff leads them off of the jet, Jason takes the time to observe his surroundings.

The place felt somehow filled and clear at the same time, with people swarming this way and that, but the space was open enough that it didn’t feel like  _ too much _ people. Jason found it odd, because it certainly reminded him of someplace that he just couldn’t put his finger on. He feels his headache return with a passion.

He ignores it, stubbornly organizing his observations instead. The narrow strip of concrete was large—stretching maybe 200 feet long and 80 feet wide. Surrounding the entire platform in all directions was never ending water, which Jason didn’t think bolded too well for both Bruce and himself. That meant that their only escape route would have to be stealing a helicopter, and though he’s done his fair share of hazardous stunts, he’s never had to do  _ that  _ before. Honestly, their only other option would be if Bruce’s alter ego decided to feel generous all of a sudden, but considering Jason’s never met the Hulk, he wouldn’t be counting on it.

“Can I trust you two to take care of yourselves while I check in on the others?” Ms. Romanoff says, nodding in both their directions. 

Jason doesn’t understand why she was suddenly willing to leave them to their own devices, but he doesn’t think trust had much to do with it. More likely than not, her presence was needed elsewhere, and what could they possibly do—alone on a strip of land in the middle of the ocean?

“We’ll be fine here,” Bruce answers smoothly. 

“Okay, good. Then I’ll be on my way.” Natasha turns. “I’ll be back soon. Just stay here.”

“You got it.” Bruce quirks his lip, giving a small wave. The gesture looks pretty empty to Jason, but it isn’t as if Romanoff even sees.

As soon as the agent in question is out of sight, Bruce turns to Jason, eyes flashing. 

“What?” Jason resists the urge to raise his hands in the universal sign of surrender. 

Bruce jabs a finger in Jason’s direction. “You never answered my question before.”

“Question?” Jason wonders how long he’ll get away with playing dumb.

“You know what I’m talking about.”

“I have memory problems, sometimes,” Jason says, and he isn’t  _ lying.  _ If anything, it’s the biggest load of truth he’s told the doctor yet.

Bruce reacts to this accordingly. “You do?” His eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. “How come I’ve never noticed before? Does that have to do with your headaches?” 

Jason’s only reply is a swift shrug.

Bruce’s eyes narrow. “But does that apply to this situation?”

_ Sharp.  _ Jason is surprised the good doctor had figured out so quickly. He changes course correspondingly.

“This place reminds me of somewhere, I just can’t put my finger on it.”

“You’re trying to distract me!” Bruce says accusingly.

Jason eyes him. “Not as much as I am curious. Is it working?”

Bruce huffs out a breath. “Surprisingly, yes. What do you think it reminds you of?”

“Not sure,” Jason says truthfully. “Like I said… memory.”

“Well, it reminds me of a military base, if that means anything.”

The suggestion sends a jolt through Jason—and he instantly knows that Bruce is correct. A memory suddenly resurfaces, foggy and murky. Jason can’t really tell  _ what  _ it's depicting, but he knows it has to do with a military base. 

_ Was I in the military? _

The thought makes Jason go cold. He knew that he was part of US Black-Ops, but military too? If he was only realizing this now, then just how much more of his past was he missing? But what did any of that matter, if he already knew the end result, the  _ important _ part?

Bruce stares at him appraisingly. “I'm going to assume that that meant something.”

Jason carefully shakes himself. “You could say that.”

“Feel like explaining?”

“No.”

“Didn't think so.” Bruce sighs. “How about explaining why you're here? I still need that answer.”

Jason doesn't reply, instead allowing his eyes to roam around their surroundings some more. He’s been keeping track of the agents around them the entire time, and the most that anyone’s ever spared the pair of them was a glance. He's sure that no one’s come near enough to be in hearing range, and he trusts his instincts to know that no outside devices were involved either. 

“Jason,” Bruce says, again with the prodding. 

Silence, except for the rustling of agents around them. 

At the lack of reply, Bruce tries again, “Jason. Please.”

Finally, Jason sighs. He figures, after following the doctor all the way over, and finding out the man’s biggest secret—the least he could do is tell the truth. 

“I once volunteered for something… and it turned out to be a mistake. I figured that the least I could do to make up for that would be to accompany you here.”

»•«

There's something refreshing, Bruce finds, about hearing Jason speak the truth. This was not only  _ because _ it was the truth, but also because Bruce could find himself resonating with this truth. 

Because Bruce could. He understood—understood volunteering for something that you thought was right. Working and working to fix your wrongs, trying your hardest to absolve from your mistakes. 

Bruce understands it. In his mind, the vision he has of Jason Bourne gets simultaneously blurrier and clearer. Truthfully, he doesn't know why Jason feels this way, or what he might've done for this to happen, but still, Bruce did understand it. 

And maybe this could be the first step to fixing it… for both of them.

“We've all done those things we can't undo. Those things that we know we’ll regret for the rest of our lives,” he finally says. “And sometimes the only thing we  _ can _ do is try to fix that. I guess what I'm trying to say is… I get it, okay?”

The look on Jason’s face is carefully closed off, but Bruce thinks that he sees something like gratitude flicker in the other man’s eyes. 

He's proven right, when, a moment later, Jason mutters, “Thank you.” 

Bruce feels a smile tug at his lips. 

»•«

The conversation has lapsed into a comfortable silence by the time Natasha Romanoff returns—now with company. A blond haired man easily keeps stride beside her, dressed in a brown leather jacket over a light patterned shirt that Jason can only describe as old fashioned. 

Beside him, Jason hears a sharp intake of breath from Bruce. 

“I guess they weren’t lying to us,” Bruce says quietly, shifting on his feet.

Well, that narrowed down the list of who the new man could possibly be. “Captain America”, was it? The man in question certainly looked able to fight, hiding a broad build underneath his jacket—one that spoke only of muscle mass. Jason didn’t see any weapons on him, but he also doubted that the man would need one to hold his own.

“Doctor Banner!” The man calls, stepping ahead of Agent Romanoff to meet Bruce and Jason first. He outstretches his hand as Bruce does the same.

"Oh yeah, hi,” Bruce says, sounding almost flustered. “They told me you'd be coming here."

"Word is you can find the cube," the man says, with all respect.

Bruce wrings his hands. "Is that the... only word you've heard?" He steps back to fall into place beside Jason.    


"Only word I care about," the man replies sincerely, giving Bruce a nod of respect. Then he turns towards Jason. “And you are?”

Jason dutifully steps up to shake the man’s hand. “I came here with Doctor Banner.”

“Nice to meet you then, Doctor Banner’s friend,” the man replies. “Steve Rogers.”  _ Captain America. _

“You too.” Jason nods. “The name’s Jason Bourne.”

“Do you have a role in this as well…?” 

Jason gives the tiniest of shrugs. “Like I said, I came with the doctor.” He doesn’t offer to elaborate, but the captain nods anyway.

“Oh. Okay.”

“It must be strange for you.” Bruce clears his throat, awkwardly adding in, “All of this.”

Captain Rogers chuckles. “Well, this is actually kind of familiar.”

Bruce shoots Jason a look, and Jason gets it instantly. Jason knew that Captain Rogers had fought in a war. Of course the man felt the same the same familiarity that Jason seemed to feel.

"Gentlemen, you might want to step inside in a minute,” Natasha Romanoff suddenly speaks up in warning. “It's going to get a little hard to breathe."

_ “Flight crew, secure the deck.”  _ Jason faintly hears a man announce over the intercom, as the people around them suddenly swarm to do just that.

"Is this a submarine?" Captain Rogers questions, awed.

"Really?” Bruce turns to Jason incredulously, shooting him another look. “They want me in a submerged, pressurized metal container?"

Underneath his feet, Jason feels the concrete slowly shift. He nudges Bruce forwards, towards the edge of the concrete platform, as Captain Rogers does the same beside them. 

Jason peers over the edge to see that—was the ground being  _ raised?    
_

As if in slow motion, they watch as massive propellers easily shed the water under it, gradually beginning to raise them up. Jason stares, as Bruce’s jaw drops.  _ What the hell?  _

Apparently, the entire place would be airborne.

"No, no, this is much worse.” Bruce almost groans.

If he didn’t feel so incredulous himself, Jason might’ve laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how was it? I know that this chapter isn't nearly as action-packed as the last one was, but I do hope it that it was as enjoyable. Word of warning, the next chapter will be mostly dialogue as well (although the dialogue _is_ important and hopefully interesting, and it _does_ further the plot). 
> 
> The earliest that Chapter Four will be up is next Monday - the 21st of August, because, as I've mentioned before, I'm going on a trip until then. Like I said, I'll try to write while I'm gone, but no promises! xP I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week while I'm gone!!
> 
> _Next Chapter: The exploration of SHIELD—and the first official meeting with the director himself. (And Phil!!!) What does Fury have in store for Bourne, hmmm? And, oh! What's that? Loki in Berlin?_


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! How was everyone's last week? I just got back from my trip (if anyone was wondering, it was a college tour trip so I basically spent the week touring colleges. It was very fun. :)). I have good news - I _did_ get some writing done during the week! I mostly wrote late into the night on my phone in the dark in a hotel room, haha. Would've written on the bus if I could, but I needed to have the movie playing in front of me to get the scene rewrites and order correctly. 
> 
> On another note, I just want to wish a happy happy birthday to @ladyvady!!! I made sure to update today so that I could give her a kinda birthday present. Hope you enjoy this chapter, ladyvady, and thank you so much for your comments and support! 
> 
> Hope everyone enjoys this chapter. :)

“If you gentleman will follow me, we really should be getting inside now.” 

Natasha not so subtlety nudges the three men into the interior of the helicarrier. It had been amusing to see the twin looks of shock on Rogers and Banner’s faces—the helicarrier truly was an incredible sight to see the first time. The lack of reaction from Bourne hadn't been surprising either. The ex-assassin didn't look the type to show much emotion.   


She leads them through the dark but well lit corridor and into the control center, where she knows her superiors will be waiting.

Nick Fury meets them at the top of the control center, where he’s normally positioned in order to direct everyone. “Gentleman,” he addresses, “Agent Romanoff.”

“Director Fury, here are Captain Rogers, Doctor Banner, and Mr. Bourne.” Natasha all but throws her present company at the SHIELD director. 

“Thank you, Agent Romanoff,” Fury acknowledges, “You are dismissed.”

Sensing that her work here was done, Natasha acknowledges in return, “Director Fury. Captain Rogers. Doctor Banner. Mr. Bourne,” then turns away to give the four men some privacy.

She habitually heads over to where Phil waits, near the center of the room. “Agent Coulson,” she greets respectfully.

Instead of returning her greeting, Phil’s head jerks with a wide eyed look that doesn’t at all match his usual cool, indifferent professionalism. 

“Jesus christ, Natasha,” he whispers, eyeing Fury’s party almost subjectively. “Where the hell did you find Jason Bourne?”

Natasha feels a prickle of annoyance at having yet another person aware of the man in question before she herself did, even though, as her superior, Phil had every right to know of Jason Bourne before her.

“He was with Doctor Banner in India.”

“And he just agreed to join us?” 

“Correct.” Natasha pauses, then lowly says, “Is it true that he was considered for the Avengers Initiative? As one of the founders, you would know—”

“Yes, he was considered,” Phil kindly interrupts, “And because he’s apparently  _ not _ dead, I think he still is.”

»•«

_ “Hover power check complete. Position cyclic.” _

Jason found the inside of—whatever airborne craft he now found himself in—to be  _ extremely  _ impressive.

_ “Increase collective to 8.0%.” _

As he passively examines everything he lays his eyes on, he keeps one ear on the conversation around him at hand.

_ “Preparing for maximum performance takeoff.” _

The whole place looked like some type of control center, similar to the government rooms that he knew the CIA had resided in when they were still trying to track him. 

_ “Increase output to capacity.” _

Jason takes his time scanning the different computer monitors. Almost every one that he could see displayed some statistic or other that he knew must have to do with the ship’s takeoff. 

_ “Power plant performing at capacity.” _

Other screens simply looked to be inspecting places and cameras, undoubtedly being used to find the mystery cube that everyone seemed to be so worked up about.

_ “We are clear.” _

Jason spares a glance towards Bruce and Captain Rogers, neither of whom did anything to shield their shock and awe at the disturbingly high level of tech.

_ “All engines operating.” _

_ “SHIELD Emergency Protocol 193.6 in effect.” _

It sounded and looked like SHIELD was planning some kind of camouflage technique, which made every bit of sense considering there wasn’t much more obvious than a massive aircraft jetting through the sky.

_ “We are at level, sir,”  _ one agent addresses a person just in front of him, a tall man dressed in a long, dark leather coat who stood with his back to them.

“Good,” the man, who—from his tone and the way everyone in the room seemed inclined to follow him—Jason assumes is the director of SHIELD says, “Engage retro-reflection panels.” 

Suddenly, there’s a slight shuddering as the ship prepares to do just that, and on a screen off to the right Jason sees a diagram flashing with the ship’s progress. 

As soon as the diagram completes flashing, the man turns to greet them. 

“Gentleman, Agent Romanoff,” he says, but Jason finds himself distracted by the man’s face—which is dark, bearded, and most importantly has an  _ eyepatch _ sitting over the man’s left eye. From the looks of him, Jason knows that he must have gotten it after some kind of fight; the leather jacket he was wearing certainly shielded countless weapons—including multiple guns—from prying eyes.   


Rogers approaches the man informally, reaching into his pocket as his head continues to twist around to appraise his surroundings. Out of his pocket comes a small wad of money, which he distractedly pulls what looks like a $10 bill out of, handing it to the other man smoothly.

Expressionlessly, the man pockets the money, just as Romanoff addresses the man herself. 

“Director Fury, here are Captain Rogers, Doctor Banner, and Mr. Bourne.”

Ah. So Jason was right; the man really was the director.

“Thank you, Agent Romanoff,” the director acknowledges, “You are dismissed.”

Jason doesn’t pay much attention as Natasha Romanoff takes her leave, heading over to where another man—certainly another high ranking agent—resided over another group of agents.

The director gives Captain Rogers a nod, and that must be a sign of dismissal as well because Rogers takes that moment to stride past them to head to the center of the room, still apparently admiring his surroundings.

“Doctor, thank you for coming,” the director says as soon as they’re alone, wasting no time in greeting Bruce, who had been standing fidgeting beside Jason.

“Thanks for asking nicely.” Bruce stops his hand wringing just long enough to shake the director’s hand. “So, how long am I staying?”

“Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you’re in the wind.”

Bruce nods slowly, dropping his hands into his suit pockets. “Where are you with that?” He questions, slowly beginning to pace.

The director points to the man that Romanoff had originally approached, who says, “We’re sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet.” 

Jason notices Rogers finally stop his admiring, eyes landing on the man currently speaking, and he sees Romanoff kneel next to a monitor off to the side, her own eyes focusing on some profile of a man. She swipes at the screen, pulling up a tab labelled “Global Search”, atop a smaller label that says 15%.

Jason turns his attention back to the man speaking, just as he continues, “Cellphones, laptops… If it’s connected to a satellite, it’s eyes and ears for us.”

“That’s still not gonna find them in time,” Natasha says from her kneeling position, voicing Jason’s thoughts exactly. The process was efficient, yes, but still too slow. Jason didn’t know much about what was happening or what he needed to do, but he did know that. 

“You have to narrow your field,” Bruce explains easily. “How many spectrometers do you have access to?”

“How many are there?” 

“Call every lab you know,” Bruce addresses both the director and the other man. “Tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays.” He begins to shrug off his jacket, relaxed and completely in his element. “I’ll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places.”

The director nods slowly, just barely following along.

“Do you have somewhere for me to work?” Bruce prompts, and the director turns to Romanoff.

“Agent Romanoff?” The agent in question rises as she’s addressed. “Could you show Doctor Banner to his laboratory please?”

Natasha Romanoff nods, gesturing for Bruce to follow her into another hallway. Bruce does, after sparing a glance for Jason, who picks up on the sign easily. 

Jason nods, and prepares to follow the agent as well, but the director himself stops him.

“Mr. Bourne,” he calls, making both Jason and Bruce turn. “May I speak with you for a minute?”

Jason’s eyes roam from Bruce to the director and then back again. He keeps his mouth shut as he watches the director.

“You can join Doctor Banner right after our conversation,” the director surmises, and Jason directs his gaze at Bruce again.

Bruce shrugs unhelpfully, holding his bundled jacket in his hands.

Jason resists the urge to sigh. “Alright.”

»•«

The SHIELD director leads Jason through yet another hallway, into yet another conference room.

“Thought you might like some privacy for this conversation,” the director says, seating himself on one of the many chairs. He gestures for Jason to do the same.

Jason does, not bothering to respond to the statement, seating himself across from the director.

“My name is Nick Fury, director of SHIELD,” the director—Nick Fury—introduces himself. “And you are?”

Jason stays perfectly still, keeping his face impassive. “I think you already know who I am.”

Director Fury nods, leaning forwards in his seat. He clasps his hands together, placing his elbows on top of the table. “I do. But I wanted to give you the chance to introduce yourself officially before we got into that.”

Jason remains silent, in a parody of the way he’d acted when he’d purposely allowed himself to get caught in Naples.

“How's death treating you?” Fury drawls, finally seeming to realize Jason’s refusal to speak. 

Jason feels himself falter a little, but physically he doesn't even blink. 

“The reports of your death have been greatly exaggerated,” Fury continues. 

Suddenly, a memory, unbidden, comes to the forefront of his mind. “Mark Twain,” he says aloud. 

Fury’s eyebrows shoot up. “You know Mark Twain?”

“Apparently.” Jason  _ doesn't,  _ actually. But obviously he used to. “And apparently you've been following me for awhile.”

“How do you figure that?” 

“I can tell. I'm not just a passing face that you saw on the news. You're a government organization; of course you'll know more about one of the CIA’s biggest mistakes. And I can see it—I know that look on your face. You're acting emotionless, but I'm trained to read faces. You want me for something. What I'm trying to figure out is for what.”

Fury’s face remains emotionless, but Jason just  _ knows. _ The director’s surprised and impressed, mostly, but he's also a little  _ not _ surprised, too… As if he'd been  _ expecting _ Jason to read him. 

“You're good,” Fury says pleasantly. “So how about we have an actual conversation now? First, introduce yourself to me.”

“My name is Jason Bourne.”

“And I'm Nick Fury, director of SHIELD.” Fury pauses, obviously waiting for Jason to continue.

Jason keeps his eyes forward. 

Fury breathes a shuddering sigh, fingering the bridge of his nose. “Why are you being difficult? You obviously came here for a reason. What harm would come in telling us?”

Jason remains predictably silent, although he does take into account the fact that this was the first time Fury had actually  _ asked  _ why he was there. 

“There aren't any cameras on us. Or any microphones. No recording devices whatsoever. Nobody other than me will know anything you have to say here.”

And surprisingly, Jason’s instincts inform him that the director was telling the truth. Jason thinks back to every other time he remembers dealings with the government—every time that Jason had reached out only to see that the call was being monitored or the meeting was being tracked. 

But even still, he isn't able bring himself to talk to the other man. Because he knew that there was something that Director Fury and SHIELD wanted from him. And talking to them would never reveal as much as not. 

It's his silence that speaks volumes. 

Fury breathes another frustrated breath, and Jason knows that his patience is beginning to wear thin. 

“Look, Mr. Bourne,” Director Fury says, but he doesn't finish. He probably doesn't know what to say either. 

“You were born David Webb,” Fury says; it's an admission. “Part of Operation Treadstone of the CIA for over 4 years, when you became Jason Bourne, until a failed mission led to you going MIA, with amnesia and a hit from Treadstone on your head. Fast forward a couple weeks and you've successfully brought Operation Treadstone to its knees, and then you go into hiding with the ally you made during the journey, Marie Kreutz. Two years pass, and your hiding place is found with Marie suddenly dead. You go to avenge her and find out about a new Black-Ops operation, Blackbriar. Within the next couple weeks of that, you uncover hidden files about both Treadstone and Blackbriar and then you single handedly take the programs and the CIA down.”

Jason thought that Fury’s explanation was the best someone could come up with from an outside perspective. But it still wasn't good enough. 

“So you read my file,” Jason replies smoothly. “I released everything I found already to the American public; it was on the news globally for months. Try again. What does that have to do with you wanting me here?”

“You're extraordinary. Your feats have shown us that, and that's not even mentioning your other skills, which I’m sure that Doctor Banner can attest to,” Fury pauses, but Jason doesn't know where he's going with this.  _ Flattery? _ “There's an initiative called the Avengers Initiative. Through it, we’re making a team. A team with extraordinary people who can do extraordinary things. And we think that you could be a part of that.”

“A  _ team… _ ” Jason tests the word on his tongue. “A team of what exactly?”

“A team of heroes.” There’s only sincerity in Nick Fury’s words.   


Jason almost blanches. “I'm no hero. If you know me or my file so well, then you'll know that at least.”

“No, we've read your file well, and we think that you'll make a good fit.”

“ _ No, _ ” Jason argues. “I haven't done anything remotely heroic throughout the last couple years—ever since I can remember, actually. The most I've done is try to stay alive.”

“I beg to differ, Mr. Bourne,” Director Fury says. “Tell me, why exactly did you accompany Doctor Banner here? I may not know why you were with him, but I think I can take a wild guess on this.”

“That's not heroic,” Jason says, his tone booking no room for argument. He'd come with Bruce because he didn't have anything else to do, and because he hadn't known if Bruce was in need him. Plus, Bruce was his friend. Of course Jason couldn't have let him go alone. 

“I think it is, unless you can give me a reason otherwise.”

It's the most obvious bait Jason has ever heard. Jason doesn't fall for it. “I don't need to explain myself to you.”

“No, but you really should explain it to yourself. Lying to yourself is never a good thing, Mr. Bourne.”

“Lying to myself isn't a big thing when my life is a lie. I don’t even go by my  _ real name. _ ” Jason doesn't mean to come off as pathetic, but he's sure he does when he utters those words. 

“Tell me, Mr. Bourne,” Fury says, “How much of your past life do you remember?”

Jason again goes silent.  _ I don't have to answer to you.  _

“ _ ‘I remember everything. I’m no longer Jason Bourne.’ _ Weren't those the famous last words you said, after you discovered the secrets of your past, right before you launched yourself off a building, into East River, and to your supposed death?” Jason goes cold. “And yet, here we are. Who are you, exactly, other than Jason Bourne?”

“So you heard from Hirsch,” Jason says dryly, choosing to ignore how deep the director’s words go.

“Court hearing, actually. Part of what brought Treadstone and Blackbriar down. But you’d know that, wouldn’t you? You seem to follow news pretty well.”

“I choose to keep track of the happenings of the world, yes,” Jason replies, unsure why he was even entertaining the other man. “Including what can concern me.” 

“Then you must know the major role you’ll have to play if this situation—our situation  _ here _ —gets any bigger.”

“Why do you figure I’ll have  _ any  _ role to play?”

“Because you’re here,” Fury says, and somehow that’s explanation enough. Still, the director elaborates, “Because you came here with Doctor Banner, even though you had no reason to. You may not have known about the plan we have for you, but you still came here.”

“That doesn’t mean what you think—” 

Fury continues undeterred, “It  _ does _ mean what I think, actually. Doctor Banner, as the lead scientist tracking the Tesseract and as his alter ego, the Hulk, will almost certainly be at the center of this battle. The question is, will you go with him there, or will you stick behind this time?”

“You don’t know if Doctor Banner will willingly fight for you.”

“Maybe not  _ for  _ us, but certainly  _ with  _ us. He’s just that kind of man.”

Jason doesn’t say anything to that, because he knows it’s true.

“Look, Mr. Bourne. What I’m offering you isn’t a chance to rewrite what you’ve done in the past; it isn’t a chance to take back the mistakes that you  _ think  _ you’ve made.” 

“What do you know about me, or about my past?” Jason says aloud, deadpan even though he wants to  _ sneer _ . “No more than I know about myself.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt that. But what I’m offering you isn’t just a chance for you to discover more about yourself, it’s a chance at redemption. We’ve all done wrong in our lives. The point of being a hero is overcoming that, and becoming something better.”

“I'm no hero,” Jason repeats, but from the way that Fury looks at him, he knows that the man’s stopped listening. 

“I'm going to get back to work, and I'll call Agent Romanoff to bring you to Doctor Banner,” Director Fury tells him. “I want you to genuinely consider this offer, and then get back to me when you say yes.”

And just like that, the director exits the room, leaving Jason sitting more than a little shocked alone in the conference room. 

Jason’s eyes stay focused on the last spot he'd seen Director Fury, and they continue to rest there until Natasha Romanoff strolls in.

“How did your talk go?” She questions casually, but Jason doesn’t think it’s entirely friendliness that drives her inquiry.

He straightens and rises from his seat. “Alright.”

The female agent doesn’t prod for more than that, even though Jason knows she undoubtedly wanted more information. 

She leads him to the laboratory in silence, and Bruce’s head barely rises when the two of them enter.

Hard at work then.

“Jason!” Bruce greets. “I’ll talk to you just as soon as I’m done with this part.” Jason knows he’s itching to ask about his conversation with the director.

“Are you allowed to take a break?” 

“Yeah,” Bruce says dismissively, without even look up. “Right now I’m just creating the basic tracking algorithm. I’ve been told that Tony Stark should be here soon, so I figure I’ll wait till he gets here so I don’t have to explain everything to him later.”

Jason doesn’t know if he  _ wants  _ to talk to Bruce about his last conversation, so he finds himself hoping that Mr. Stark comes sooner rather than later.

Of course, he doesn’t know if it’s his wish coming true or not when suddenly, a loud screeching alarm fills every room and hallway on the ship.

»•«

Phil Coulson’s eyes meet Fury’s as Fury reenters the room. 

“How'd it go?”

“Unwilling, like we figured.” Fury shakes his head. “He doesn’t consider himself a ‘hero’.”

“Who ever does?” Phil chuckles. “Do you think he’ll come around?”

“Oh, undoubtedly.” Fury says confidently. “Men like Bourne—they look at themselves and don't see anything past the mistakes they’ve made. Bourne is doubtlessly haunted by the every death he’s witnessed and every life he’s had to take.”

“That’s why he’ll say yes,” Phil finishes. “Because every person in that position seeks some form of redemption. Absolution.”

“Exactly,” Fury says. “And by the way, apparently Bourne knows Mark Twain.”

“ _ What?  _ How did you get that off of him?”

“I quoted him: ‘The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.’, except, I, of course, changed it to fit my need.”

“I always liked that quote.” Phil hums. “Weren’t we correct in the assumption that he has no memories of his time before Jason Bourne?” 

“I didn’t get a verbal confirmation, but I don’t think he remembers. What I do think, however, is that he is slowly regaining his memories of before.”

Phil stares. “That changes things, doesn’t it?”

“Whether that helps or harms us, I think it’s pretty 50/50.”

“Let’s hope so,” Phil says, just as the monitors around suddenly begin flashing red.

»•«

Agent Romanoff and Captain Rogers arrive at the laboratory in full gear, when the alarms are beginning to taper off. 

Jason sees that Romanoff is dressed in a lean black outfit that gives her full mobility, with guns clipped to her belt, while Captain Rogers is dressed in a red, white, and blue outfit that looked old and completely detrimental in a fight. No guns sit on the belt of his outfit either, only a large matching circular shield. 

_ He really lives up to his name of Captain America,  _ Jason finds himself thinking with a hint of confusion.

“Loki has been spotted in Berlin,” Romanoff says first, by way of explanation.

“And Director Fury told us to come ask if you’d like to join us in capturing him,” Rogers finishes. 

Bruce’s mouth opens in immediate refusal, but Natasha cuts him off before he’s able to reply.

“Not you, Doctor Banner,” she says. “The Director wants you to continue working. We’re asking Mr. Bourne.”

All eyes land on Jason, as the man in question imperceptibly stiffens. “Where?” He asks gruffly. “And am I needed?”

“Berlin, Germany,” Captain Rogers tells Jason, watching him with a look that he can only describe as puzzlement. 

_ What can you do?  _ The captain seemed to be thinking. 

“And we’re not sure if you’re needed,” Natasha adds.

Jason casts a glance over to Bruce then back to the fully geared fighters in front of him. He thinks back to Fury’s offer to him earlier.

_ If I choose to go with them now, does that mean I accept?  _ He wonders.  _ But I  _ don’t  _ accept.  _

Finally, Jason finds his voice. “I won’t go unless I’m needed.” He doesn’t have the best memories in Berlin anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo how was it? I personally very much enjoyed writing Jason and Fury's conversation. I sure hope I got their characters correctly... Btw guys, with the pacing that this fic is moving at, I highly doubt we'll finish at the under 10 chapter outline that I'd imagined for this xD In other words, expect more than 10 chapters by the end of this!
> 
> Anyhow, I'm not sure when the next update will be. By the end of the week definitely, so you guys don't have to wait tooooo long. :) Thanks for everything, everyone! 
> 
> _Next Chapter: Bruce and Jason talk. Then it's everyone’s famous genius’ introduction!! *SQUEAL!!!* How will Tony and Jason react to meeting each other? Also: Loki is captured in Berlin (duh), and Thor’s debut happens as well._


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg guys hi, it's me - it's almost midnight where I am right now and I meant to update yesterday, but I didn't get the chance, so I felt bad and I'm rushing to upload it now. 
> 
> Word of warning: this is a short chapter! (Shortest one yet... sorry guys, but I have a reason :))
> 
> Hope you enjoy!!

“So what did you and the director talk about?” 

Bruce is eyeing Jason curiously. 

Jason doesn't meet his eyes. “Don't you still have work to do?”

“Like I said, I only needed to make the basic algorithm. Now it's just the waiting game for when Mr. Stark comes.” 

“You could always keep working,” Jason points out. 

“Or,” Bruce suggests, “I could ask you to tell me how the conversation went.” 

“It went well,” Jason replies. “Is that all?”

“No. Tell me what Director Fury said, Jason. What did he ask you about? How do they know who you are?” 

“I don't think that's any of your business,” Jason tries. “No prying rule, right?”

“Because of that no prying rule, I know less about you than they do,” Bruce says sullenly, and it's the  _ perfect angle.  _ “How is that fair? You came here with me.  _ I'm  _ your friend.”

“ _ Fine! _ ” Jason wants to scowl. “He spoke to me about my past, alright? Made me an offer after talking about my accomplishments.”

“What offer? What accomplishments? What past?” Bruce grills. 

“Bruce…” Jason sighs, but Bruce lifts a hand. 

“You know my biggest secret,” he insists, “At least tell me a little of yours.”

“SHIELD made me an offer to… join their team, because… I used to be an assassin for the CIA.” Bruce’s jaw drops, even though Jason knows his admission can't be  _ that  _ shocking. There's no doubt that the doctor had at least suspected something along those lines. 

“There was a US Black-Ops program called Operation Treadstone that I was a part of, stationed in Paris. After a mission went wrong, I got amnesia. That amnesia led me to do… things in my attempts to figure out my identity. Ultimately, I brought Operation Treadstone and its successor, Operation Blackbriar, down.” 

He wants to tell Bruce more about what happened, but he's sure that there are cameras all around the room. Just from where he stood he spotted 2 cameras right in front of him, and he's counted at least 5 since he came in.

Lightly, he moves over to a corner of the laboratory, a spot that he knew was a blind spot due to the camera angle and a cabinet blocking part of the view. 

Bruce stares at Jason, stockstill. 

“You might have seen me on the news at some point, but I think you were in hiding by then,” Jason continues. “I released my files to the public to set myself free, then jumped off a building so everyone thought that I was dead.”

“Why… why were you part of that assassin’s program?” Bruce finally voices his thoughts. 

Jason’s answer comes low and emotionless, even as the shame fills him from bottom to top. “I volunteered.”

Bruce’s breath catches. He's smart enough to know what that means—to Jason, to the program, but most importantly to himself.  _ That  _ was why Jason had come with Bruce there. 

Now he knew. 

“Do you still have that amnesia now?” Bruce asks, ever so gently. 

Jason nods his head and shrugs. 

“And your headaches—”

Jason nods again. 

“Okay,” Bruce says, more to himself than to Jason.

“I'll tell you more later,” Jason promises.  _ When we don't have any unwanted audiences around us. _

“I'll hold you to that,” Bruce says, and that's a promise as well. 

Jason almost smiles. 

»•«

When Captain Rogers and Agent Romanoff return, almost 4 hours later, they come with little fanfare. 

Jason sees a familiar jet fly in front of the lab window, and then he finds himself nudging Bruce. 

“Let's go see what happened,” he says, motioning for the other man to follow him. Bruce gives the smallest of protests before stumbling along beside Jason. 

It isn't very hard to navigate through the halls—Jason remembers which way he'd been led, and it wasn't hard to realize that the control center was basically the center of everything anyway. They find the landing pod easily; the whole west wing mostly acted as a garage for jets. 

Jason and Bruce enter the area right around the time both Captain Rogers and Agent Romanoff debark from the jet—with three more people than what they started with. 

Jason immediately recognizes only one of the three new men accompanying them: Mr. Tony Stark, still decked in his Iron Man armor, complete with the helmet. He stands a little behind Captain Rogers and a massive, muscular blond haired man dressed in an old fashioned armor. In between the three of them stands a raven haired man in handcuffs; Jason assumes that the captured man is the infamous Loki who started this mess. Agent Romanoff stands a little away from the group, exiting the pilot seat last. 

The group is certainly a sight to behold. 

Suddenly, before the five really even step off the jet, a squadron of men dressed head to toe in armored uniform with large guns in hand swarm out of a large doorway to meet them, surrounding the group so that Jason isn't able see them anymore. 

He takes that as a sign and turns to Bruce, motioning for the doctor to follow. “Come on,” he whispers, hushed. “They’ll be taking Loki prisoner now, so you should head back and begin setting up. They'll meet you soon, so we should be in the lab where it's easy to find you.”

They head back to the lab in silence, neither sure of what they could say. 

As they wait in the lab to be called on again, Bruce readies the lab for further use while Jason stands unseen in the corner. 

It doesn't take long for some action to come; a group of the same armed agents—12, Jason counts—walk right by the lab window, escorting a still handcuffed Loki. As Loki is marched past the window, Jason sees the detained man— _ god? _ —look inside. Jason also sees the exact moment when Loki notices Bruce, who's still hard at work, and the crazed god smiles, actually  _ smiles  _ at Bruce. 

Jason feels himself go cold. That didn't hold well for anyone; what was  _ wrong  _ with the man? Just how mad was he?

Bruce fidgets with his glasses, uneasy, as the men continue to march Loki past. As soon as he's out of sight, the doctor turns to Jason. 

“What the hell was that?” Bruce says, demanding; but not to Jason. 

“I don't know,” Jason says honestly. “But I think we're going to find out soon.”

And not even a minute after the words leave his mouth, Agent Romanoff stalks into the room. 

“Director Fury would like us all to meet right now.”

»•«

There are five people in the conference room on a raised platform above the control center other than Jason: Agent Romanoff, seated at the table; Captain Rogers, seated at another end; Maria Hill, agent of SHIELD and standing across from the table: Thor, standing and apparently the Asgardian god of  _ thunder _ ; and Bruce, who stands shifting next to Jason.   


Maria Hill has a screen in front of her displaying live feed of Loki and Fury in the prison room glowing on the table, while Agent Romanoff and Rogers have matching ones on the table in front of them, so Bruce and Jason lean over their shoulders to catch the feed themselves. 

The cage that Loki stood in was more of a case than a cage, Jason thought, the walls made of heavily enforced glass and steel.

_ “In case it's unclear,”  _ Fury says through the screen. “ _ If you try to escape, if you so much as scratch that glass…”  _

Fury walks to a lit screen off to the side of the catwalk surrounding Loki’s cage, tapping on one of the buttons. Instantly metal iris panels underneath the cage open up, creating a massive vacuum like hole that led to the outside of the ship. 

_ “...it's 30,000 feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works? Ant—”  _ Fury points at Loki. “ _ —Boot.”  _

_ “It's an impressive cage,”  _ Loki replies lightly, humorously. _ “Not built, I think, for me.” _

Off screen, Bruce stiffens. “That cage,” he whispers, leaning into Jason’s shoulder, “It’s built for me.”

Jason doesn't reply, but he sees Natasha send a fleeting glance towards Bruce, and that's all the confirmation he needs. 

_ “Built for something a lot  _ stronger _ than you,” _ Fury corrects. 

_ “Oh, I've heard. The mindless beast, makes play like he's still a man,”  _ Loki mocks. _ “How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?” _

Jason feels a ripple of anger rush through him at the crazed god’s words. What right did he have to speak of Bruce that way?

_ “How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill cause it's fun.”  _ Fury’s words are hard, but his tone is even harder. _ “You have made me  _ very _ desperate. You might not be glad that you did.” _

_ “Ooh. It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what?”  _ Loki chuckles. _ “A warm light for all mankind to share. And then to be reminded what real power is.” _

Fury turns away from the god’s ramblings, dismissive and unimpressed.  _ “Well, let me know if ‘real power’ wants a magazine or something.” _

“He really grows on you, doesn't he?” Bruce says sarcastically. Jason has to agree. 

“Loki's gonna drag this out,” Steve says. “Thor, what's his play?”

“He has an army, called the Chitauri,” Thor informs. “They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract.”

“An army,” Steve repeats. “From outer space.”

It’s the most ridiculous thing that Jason has ever heard, and yet, with the day he's had so far, he isn't even surprised. 

“So he's building another portal,” Bruce realizes aloud. “That's what he needs Erik Selvig for.”

Thor’s eyes dart up. “Selvig?”

“He's an astrophysicist.”

“He's a friend.”

“Loki has them under some kind of spell,” Natasha Romanoff informs. “Along with one of ours.” Agent Barton, Jason knows. Someone important to  _ her. _

“I wanna know why Loki let us take him.” Steve narrows his eyes. “He's not leading an army from here.”

“I don't think we should be focusing on Loki,” Bruce shakes his head. “That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You can  _ smell _ crazy on him.”

Jason agrees with that as well. 

“Have a care how you speak!” Thor crows in response, accent thickening. “Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard and he is my brother!”

“He killed eighty people in two days,” Natasha deadpans.

This seems to stop Thor in his tracks. “He's adopted,” the god replies almost sheepishly. 

“I think it's about the mechanics,” Bruce cuts in. “Iridium. What do they need the iridium for?”

“It's a stabilizing agent.” Another voice suddenly joins in the conversation. 

Jason watches as two more men enter the room—one Agent Phil Coulson, who Jason remembers providing explanations when they'd first arrived; and more importantly, the man that had spoken, Mr. Tony Stark. 

Mr. Stark says something to the agent, before leaving the Coulson’s side to officially join them. 

Finally, he explains, “Means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD.”

He strides over to and past Thor, patting the larger man on the arm. “No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing.”

Then he continues, “Then the portal could open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants.”

He turns to the room of control center workers, directing them to open something for him that Jason doesn't quite catch. 

“That man is playing Galaga!” He says pointing to a man’s monster that Jason can't quite see from his angle. Snickering, Mr. Stark says, “He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did.” 

He eyes at the monitors resting in front of him, swiping at one and then turning to the other. He places a hand in front of one of his eyes. Distractedly, the genius gripes, “How does Fury even see these?”

“He turns,” Maria Hill replies coolly. 

“Sounds exhausting.” He whirls around for a moment, then turns back to the screens. “The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton could get his hands on pretty easily.” 

Agent Barton, also known as the agent that had been compromised by Loki. 

“The only major component he still needs is a power source… of high energy density.” He continues to mess with the screens. “Something to kickstart the cube.”   


“When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?” Maria Hill asks, and Jason thinks there's a touch of distaste in her tone.

“Last night.” Mr. Stark shoots back. “The packet. Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?” He questions, splaying his arms wide. 

Jason just finds it impressive that the man had learned a topic so quickly overnight. 

“Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?” Apparently, the good captain had gotten enough of the billionaire’s banter.

“He'd have to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier,” Bruce says, so Jason takes that as a no.

“Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunnelling effect,” Mr. Stark points out.

Bruce tips his head. “Well, if he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet.”

“Finally, someone who speaks English!”

“Is that what just happened?” Steve’s eyes dart around the room. 

Jason finds himself echoing that statement in his mind. 

Unabashedly, Tony Stark strides up to Bruce, offering his hand to shake, which Bruce does cautiously. 

“It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner,” the billionaire says, speaking quickly. “Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And, I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.”

Jason isn't sure if he entirely agrees with the last part of the man’s statement, but he finds the whole thing amusing nonetheless. Probably the most honest introduction that Bruce has gotten so far.

“Thanks,” Bruce replies, awkwardly but not uncomfortably. 

Jason takes that as a good sign.    


“Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube.” Director Fury informs the billionaire, walking into the room and joining the conversation. “I was hoping you might join him.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” Mr. Stark hums dismissively, turning away from the speaking director. His eyes roam around the room, jumping from person to person… until they land on Jason. 

Ever so confident, he strides up to Jason, thrusting his hand in front of him. “Hi there, who are you? I haven't met you yet,” he says, speaking as quickly as ever. “From the way you're dressed, I know you're not a part of SHIELD, and from the way you’re standing next to Doctor Banner, I assume you're a friend of his. Nice to meet you, I'm Tony Stark.” He offers a charming smile. 

Jason keeps his face carefully blank as the billionaire addresses him, even though on the inside he's a little surprised. Why was the man suddenly greeting him? Nobody else had so much as acknowledged him during this conversation, and he'd preferred it that way. 

If he thought about it, today was probably the most he's had to introduce himself at a time since he could remember, not to mention the fact that Mr. Stark was also undoubtedly the most  _ important  _ person of whom he's had to meet as well. 

“I’m Jason Bourne,” Jason says, shaking his hand. “You're correct; I did come here with Doctor Banner.”

“And no doubt you're able to do  _ something  _ big if you're allowed to hang out here. But no worries, you don't have to tell me whatever that is. Either I'll see it for myself or I'll found out anyway,” Mr. Stark says cheerily. 

Jason stays silent, unsure of how to respond to that. 

“Not so talkative, huh?” He winks. “That's okay; I'll talk enough for the both us.”

And then he’s gone—up and around the table in a heartbeat. 

Jason glances at his fleeting form in puzzlement, then he turns to Bruce, only to see the doctor wearing the same exact puzzled expression on his face. 

Bruce meets his eyes and seems to say,  _ Don’t look at me,  _ so Jason leaves it at that. 

Well, Tony Stark certainly was eccentric. And friendly, too.

“Let's start with that stick of his,” Rogers suggests. “It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon.”

“I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys.”

“Monkeys?” Thor blinks in confusion. “I do not understand.”

Jason finds that he doesn't either.  
“I do!” Captain Rogers says, eyes flitting excitedly. “I understood that reference!” He sits straighter in his seat, looking pretty proud of himself. 

From the corner of his eyes, Jason sees Mr. Stark’s roll of his eyes, while Bruce and everyone else in the room looks down in secondhand embarrassment. 

Jason decides to let the fact that  _ he _ doesn't understand the reference go unsaid. 

“Shall we play doctor?” Tony Stark says without missing a beat, rounding to Bruce. 

“This way sir.” Bruce nods, gesturing towards the lab. He spares a glance for Jason. “You coming with?”

Jason nods, following the two geniuses dutifully. It's not like he has anywhere else to go. 

“Are you a scientist, too?” Mr. Stark looks at Jason curiously as they walk. “I didn't peg you as one at all.”

“He's not,” Bruce replies, saving Jason from having to answer. “He just prefers to stick with me.”

“Wow, that's… loyal,” is Mr. Stark’s admiration filled reply. He doesn't get to say more, before they reach the lab. 

And then, as Jason watches, both scientists get to work. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you enjoy Tony and Bourne's meeting? I had a lot of fun writing that one. Anyway, like I said before, this chapter has been the shortest one yet, mostly because I felt that this was a good stopping point for the next, which - if it's any consolation - next chapter is a contender for LONGEST chapter! (I try to keep my chapters in the mid-3000's range. This one is barely hitting 3000, and the next one is looking to be about 4000.)
> 
> Anyway, I hope everyone had a really great week! School starts for me next Monday so updates may slow down... but I highly doubt it because I usually do the bulk of my writing in the middle of the night on my phone. xD I would add more but I really, really have to go know, so have a good day/night, everyone!!
> 
> _Next chapter: Tony and Bruce talk. Then people argue, and then everything goes to shit. “Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist.” Need I say more?_


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! How is everyone? Proud to say that this is the longest chapter yet - at 4000 words! It's also, quite possibly, my favorite chapter yet, except for maybe Chapter Two. :D 
> 
> Welp, I won't waste anymore time making you read this so, so get right to it!

The next couple hours passes by in a blur.

Jason stays in the lab while Bruce and Tony Stark are hard at work, only half paying attention to the world around him. The whole time he's nursing a fairly strong headache, most likely strengthened by the sheer amount of  _ science  _ going on around him. 

It's boring, but interesting at the same time. Jason knows that both men are deserving of their titles as geniuses. 

“My gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig’s reports for the Tesseract,” says Bruce, waving a scanner over Loki’s scepter. “But it's gonna take weeks to process.”

“If we bypass their mainframe and direct route to their home cluster, we could clock this at around 600 terabytes.” There’s so much science coming out of Mr. Stark’s mouth that Jason isn't even sure if he's heard him right. 

“All I packed was a toothbrush,” Bruce jokes, even though Jason knows he hadn't even packed  _ that.  _ Neither of them had packed much of anything to come here; it was more of a ‘spur of the moment’ trip. 

Mr. Stark laughs anyway. “Heh, you know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime, both of you,” he offers, throwing the end over his shoulder towards Jason. “The top ten floors—all R&D. You'd love it; it's like candy land.”

“Thanks but… the last time I was in New York, I kind of broke… Harlem.” 

Jason remembers reading about that in the papers. 

“Well, I promise a stress-free environment,” the billionaire offers. “No tension, no surprises, just—” Suddenly, he takes the pen he’d been holding—a shocking pen, apparently—and pokes Bruce with it in the side. 

“Ow!” Bruce yelps, more from surprise than from pain. 

Jason had seen the billionaire pick up the shock pen; he’d read the man’s intentions from a mile away, but he'd made no move to stop the other man. Bruce did need to become more comfortable on the ship, and a show of trust could be what he needed. 

After all, both men were _geniuses._ Mr. Stark wouldn't actually set off the Hulk on the helicarrier, and Jason had known Bruce’s shock limit enough to know that Bruce wouldn't Hulk-out either. If the doctor couldn’t handle a quick scare after spending the last year or so in Calcutta, India? Well, _that_ would be the biggest shock. 

“Nothing?” Mr. Stark questions, after seeing Bruce’s lack of major reaction. There’s curiosity in his eyes, but no surprise. There's maybe even a little trust, in addition to a healthy load of respect. 

“Hey!” Captain Rogers, who'd apparently been passing by in the hall, comes marching into the room. “Are you nuts?” He seethes. 

“Jury’s out,” Mr. Stark addresses the captain dismissively, then turns back to Bruce, eyes shining. “You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?”

The suggestions are outrageous and are obviously meant to annoy the captain, and Jason sees that it's somehow working. 

“Is everything a joke to you?” Captain Rogers scowls. 

Mr. Stark smirks. “Funny things are.”

“Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny.” The captain glares at the billionaire. Mr. Stark raises his hands in surrender, while Bruce keeps diligently working. 

“No offense,” Rogers adds guiltily, directed towards Bruce. 

“It's alright,” Bruce replies mildly. “I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things.”

“It's true,” Jason decides to add, breaking his silence. Both Mr. Stark and Captain Rogers’ heads snap over in his direction; they'd forgotten he was even there. 

Jason shrugs. “If Doctor Banner had been in any real danger, I would've stopped Mr. Stark.” He doesn't see the point in allowing the good captain to antagonize the genius over the joke any longer. 

“And the man finally speaks!” Mr. Stark proclaims. “It's good to see you can.” Then he turns back to Bruce. “You're tiptoeing, big man. You need to  _ strut. _ ” 

Captain Rogers snaps, “And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark.”

“You think I'm not?” The genius counters. “Why did Fury call us in, and why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation, not unless I have all the variables.”

“You think Fury’s hiding something?” The captain blinks, as if the thought had never occurred to him. 

“Well, he's a spy. Captain, he's  _ the  _ spy. His secrets even have secrets.” He points to Bruce, and then to Jason. “It's bugging him, too, and I  _ know  _ that Bourne’s noticed it.”

“Uhhhh… I just wanna finish my work here, and—” Bruce starts uncomfortably, shifting his gaze to Jason for help. 

“It's true,” is all Jason says, because he has actually noticed. “If the director didn't have something to hide, he wouldn't make such an effort to hide it.”

“How so?” The captain questions, but Jason leaves it for Bruce to elaborate. 

“Doctor?” Captain Rogers prods. 

Bruce sighs, reaching up to remove his glasses. “ _ ‘A warm light for all of mankind.’  _ Loki’s jab at Fury about the cube.” 

“I heard it,” the captain says, shifting, as Mr. Stark leans in. 

“Well,” Bruce says, reaching over to grab some blueberries off the man he addresses his next statement to, “I think that was meant for you. Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still on the news.”

“The Stark Tower? That big ugly—” Mr. Stark shoots the captain a look, which cuts the other man off. “—building in New York?”

“It's powered by an arc reactor, a self sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for, what, a year?”

“It's just a prototype,” Mr. Stark says, sounding almost discomforted by Bruce’s praise. “I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now.”

“So, why didn't SHIELD bring him in for the project?” Bruce bids the question. “I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?”

“I should probably look into that, as soon as my encryption program finishes breaking into all of SHIELD’s security files,” Mr. Stark says, as casually as ever. 

“I'm sorry, did you say—”

“JARVIS has been running through it like a bridge. In a few hours, I'll know every dirty secret that SHIELD has ever tried to hide. Blueberry?” He offers. 

“Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around,” the captain scoffs. 

“An intelligence organization that  _ fears _ intelligence? Historically, not awesome.” 

“I think Loki’s trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed.” The captain bids a valid point. “We have orders. We should follow them.”

“Following’s not really my style.”

“And you're all about style, aren't you?” 

Jason thought that jab was a little uncalled for, which is why he isn't at all surprised when Mr. Stark shoots back, “Of the people in this room, which one’s A) wearing a spangly outfit, and B) not of use?”

“Steve,” Bruce cuts in, ever the mediator. “You're telling me none of this… smells a little funky to you?”

Captain Rogers looks at Bruce, then at Tony. His eyes then drift over to Jason, then back again. Finally, he concedes, “Just find the cube,” before making an abrupt exit. 

Jason let's a moment pass with the captain gone, then he speaks up. “I'll take a blueberry.”

That brings a wicked smile on Tony Stark’s face. “I like you,” he calls gleefully, and tosses Jason the whole bag. 

Jason grabs a handful of blueberries before tossing the bag back, just in time for the billionaire to loudly complain, “That's the guy my dad never shut up about? Wondering if they should've kept him on ice.”

“Guy’s not wrong about Loki,” Bruce points out. “He does have the jump on us.”

“What's he's got is a stick of dynamite in his hands. It's gonna blow up in his face. And, I'm gonna be there when it does.”

“Well, I'll read all about it.”

“Uh huh. Or, you'll be suiting up with the rest of us.”

“Ah, you see, I don't get a suit of armor. I'm exposed. Like a nerve. It's a nightmare.”

“Not all of us get suits of armor, Bruce,” Jason finds himself adding in. Bruce sends him a look that reads,  _ Not you, too.  _ “Sometimes we make do with what we have. Sometimes that's only the skin on your back. But having a second skin that grants you invincibility works, too.”

Jason’s never met the Hulk before, and he doesn't even know if he wants to. What he knows he wants, however, is for Bruce to climb over the mountain of hate that he holds for his alter ego. If the doctor had to live with the Other Guy, the least they could do was get along. Jason doesn't want Bruce to forever live in fear; he sees in Mr. Stark a chance for Bruce to have that. 

Mr. Stark shoots Jason a grateful smile. “You know, I've got a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to crawl its way into my heart.” He taps at his chest, where Jason sees a glowing light shine brightly out of a small protruding circle on top of the man’s heart. 

The mini-arc reactor. Jason remembers reading about that in the papers. 

“This stops it. This little circle of light. It's part of me now, not just armor.” As the genius speaks, Jason thinks he sounds terribly vulnerable. “It's a... terrible privilege.”

“But you can control it.”

“Because I learned how.”

“It's different,” Bruce says, and it's a hint for the conversation to be dropped. He pointedly continues to read the screen, but Tony Stark was apparently having none of it. 

With purpose, the genius slides whatever Bruce is reading right off the screen, so that the two men could see each other face to face. 

“I don't think so,” he says, all stubborn willfulness. “We all have our stories—it's why we're all here today. Take Goldbond, over there, for instance,” he jabs his thumb in Jason’s direction. “Why’s he here, when he can be far away? Why go through everything and then come back?”

“ _ Goldbond? _ ” Bruce sputters, at the same time Jason thinks the same thing.

“He’s got the James Bond vibe to him,” the genius says dismissively, even though Jason knows that there must've been more to it that just that. 

_ Isn't ‘Goldbond’ some type of cream?  _ Jason mulls. 

“Hey, I've read all about your accident,” Tony Stark continues, undeterred. “That much gamma exposure should’ve killed you.”

“So you're saying that the Hulk—the Other Guy—saved my life?” Bruce slowly shakes his head. “That's nice. It's a nice sentiment. Save it for what?”

Ominously, Mr. Stark says, “I guess we'll find out.”   


And then just like that, both men turn right back to their work, leaving Jason to witness the aftermath. 

Jason agrees with Bruce on Mr. Stark’s idea being a nice sentiment; it certainly seemed better than Bruce’s alternative. 

But Jason found it to be a nice thought as well. Bruce lived his life loathing his alter ego—maybe a nicer sentiment could be what he needed.

“You might not like that,” Bruce says offhandedly, a moment later.

“You just might,” the other man shoots right back, barely glancing up from his work. 

If Jason were more the talkative type, he's sure he would've butted into their conversation again. But because he isn't one to really enjoy chitchat, he holds his tongue and observes instead. 

It certainly was entertaining. 

»•«

The next time something of interest happens, Bruce and Tony have already finished working on their programming, and suddenly Director Fury’s diving into to the room in a… well, in a fury. 

“What are you doing, Mr. Stark?!”

Jason and Bruce exchange looks from their spots behind Mr. Stark’s shoulder, as they both realize why Director Fury had come; he'd finally noticed the genius’ hacking. 

“Uh, kind of been wondering the same thing about you.”

“You  _ should _ be locating the tesseract.”

“Yeah, the model’s locked and we’re searching for the signature now.” Bruce says ever-so-casually. He points to a screen behind the director’s back. “As soon as we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile.” 

“And you'll get your cube back; no muss, no fuss,” Mr. Stark adds, then his voice takes on an ounce of accusing. “Now tell me, what  _ is  _ phase two?”

All three men had been looking through SHIELD’s files together just moments before. They were all on the same page now, and they were all brimming with the same kind of righteous anger. 

There's a loud clang as Captain Rogers suddenly enters the conversation. “Phase two is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons.” With finality, he points at the weapon that he'd dropped onto the tabletop. “Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for me.”

“Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract, this does not mean that we—”

“I'm sorry, Nick,” Mr. Stark types furiously on the screen, then flips it triumphantly. A schematic of a rocket with the tesseract appears. “What were you lying?”

“I was wrong, director,” says the captain lowly, “The world hasn't changed a bit.”

It's then that both Thor and Agent Romanoff enter the room. 

“Did you know about this?” Bruce is the one that addresses them first, throwing his own accusation at Natasha Romanoff. 

The female agent ignores Bruce, suggesting instead, “You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?” 

Bruce laughs meanly. “Haha, I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed.” 

“Loki’s manipulating you,” she says, a supposed new revelation. 

Bruce follows Jason’s line of thinking. “And you've been doing what, exactly?”

“You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you—”

“Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy.” Bruce snaps, and that's the final say. “I’d like to know why SHIELD is using the tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction.”

There's a beat of tense silence, accusatory looks thrown over everyone's shoulders. Jason can almost  _ see _ the furious tension sizzling inside the room. 

Finally, Fury admits, “Because of him.” He points a gloved finger at Thor. 

“ _ Me? _ ” Thor echoes, sounding sincerely shocked. 

“Last year Earth had a visitor from another planet, who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly,  _ hilariously  _ outgunned.” 

“My people want nothing but peace with your planet,” Thor says, offended. 

“But you’re not the only ones out there, are you?” Fury shoots back. “And you're not the only threat. The world’s filling up with people that can't be matched, that can't be controlled.”

“Like you control the cube?” Captain Rogers scoffs, entirely unimpressed. 

“Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies! It is a signal to the Realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war!”

“A higher form?” Rogers echoes, as Fury argues, “You forced our hand. We had to come up with some—”

“A nuclear deterrent,” Mr. Stark interrupts, hands stuffed in his pockets. “Cause that always calms everything right down.”

He's speaking from experience, Jason knows. 

“Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?” 

Captain Rogers says scornfully, “I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep in some—” 

Jason inwardly bristles at such a crude resumption. What did Rogers know about Stark to be able to accuse such things?

“Wait, wait, hold on! How is this now about me?” The billionaire defends. 

Captain Rogers rears on him. “I'm sorry, isn't everything?”

It's then that the conversation seems to split into different paths; everyone’s suddenly arguing with somebody, and it's  _ heated.  _

“I thought you humans were more evolved than this,” Thor sneers.    


“Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?” Fury retorts. 

Jason feels the tension in the room expand like a balloon, pushing and shoving and making itself known.

At the same time, Natasha says to Bruce, “Are you really that dense? SHIELD monitors potential threats.”

“ _ Captain America _ is on threat watch?” Bruce scoffs in reply.

“We  _ all _ are!”

If there's a moment for the tension to explode, Jason knows that it will be here, now, and absolutely  _ bloody.  _

Then Mr. Stark is sneering towards Captain Rogers, “You're on that list? Are you above or below angry bees?”

The taunt sounds, to Jason, more like a distraction than anything else, but apparently the man being taunted doesn't see it that way.

“I swear, Stark, one more wisecrack out of you…”

“Verbal threat!” Mr. Stark yelps mockingly. “Threatening! I'm being threatened!”

At this point, Jason doesn't think he could stop a fight breaking out even if he wanted to. 

“You speak of control, yet you court chaos,” Thor says, and somehow the shouting has died down within the last couple minutes, although it still does nothing for the electric undercurrent of tension. 

“That's his MO, isn't it?” Bruce says. “I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no, we're a chemical mixture that  _ makes _ chaos. We're a… we're a  _ time-bomb. _ ”

“You need to step away,” Fury insists Bruce. 

Why the director only now seemed to be noticing Bruce’s rising anger, Jason doesn't know. 

“Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?” Mr. Stark proclaims, exaggeratedly placing a hand on the nearby captain’s shoulder. 

“You know damn well why,” the Captain snaps, shaking the hand away. “Back off!”

Mr. Stark stops. “Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me.”

“Yeah. Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off and what are you?” For such a seemingly noble captain, Jason wonders how the man can sound so belittling. 

“Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist,” Mr. Stark’s reply is instantaneous, and suddenly everyone’s attention is now on the two. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Jason sees Natasha shrug in agreement at the statement; he echoes that same sentiment.

“I know guys with none of that worth ten of you,” Rogers says disdainfully. “And I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you.”

Jason finds the assessment to be cruel and hilariously untrue. He's seen the footage as well, and he's trained to read people like books. He knows the truth, so why was the captain lashing out so hard?

Without missing a beat, Mr. Stark replies, “I think I would just cut the wire.”

Captain Rogers laughs, and even his laugh sounds oddly cruel. “Always a way out... You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero.”

That's the last straw. Jason sees the moment Mr. Stark’s eyes flash, dropping every mouth filter he possesses to match cruel for cruel. 

Jason braces himself for the verbal blow.

“A hero? Like you?” The genius sneers; it's sarcastic and filled with ridicule. “You're a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you  _ came out of a bottle. _ ”

Jason doesn't know anything about Captain Rogers or the famed Captain America. He doesn't know what the captain had gone through or how he made it here today. What he does know, however, is that—from the look on the man’s at the genius’ comeback—there is certainly an amount of truth in those words. 

The captain’s mouth clamps tightly shut. Then he says, “Put on the suit. Let's go a few rounds.”

Everyone is shifting on their feet, waiting for the next remark to drop, unsure of who will speak next. There's a thin line now, between friend and foe. The tension between everyone practically crackles. 

Jason is the only one independent of it all. 

Finally, Thor is the one to speak up. He chuckles meanly. “You people are so petty… and tiny.”

Jason sees a glimpse of truth in his words—at the moment, most everyone was showing up to be petty, and literally everyone probably seemed tiny to Thor. 

“Yeah, this is a team,” Bruce sarcastically gripes as Thor laughs. 

Glancing at Bruce, Director Fury tries, “Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his—” 

“Back where?” Bruce cuts the director off mockingly. “You rented my room.”

“The cell was built—”

“In case you needed to kill me, but you  _ can't! _ I know! I tried!” It's as if the doctor finally snaps. “I… got low. I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth—and the  _ other guy spit it out! _ ” Jason subconsciously catalogues the looks on each person’s face. Director Fury and Agent Romanoff both stare at Bruce with unease, Captain Rogers wears a look of sympathy, while Thor only confusion, and Mr. Stark… his face shows a look of understanding. Jason knows that his own face will betray nothing, but he isn't even sure  _ how  _ he feels about Bruce’s sudden confession. 

“So I moved on,” Bruce continues, undeterred and ignorant of everyone’s emotions. “I focused on helping other people. I was  _ good,  _ until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!”   


“Bruce…” Jason finally speaks up, making every head in the room jerk towards him. He doesn't know what he wants to say; he just wants to offer comfort to his distressed friend.

Bruce shakes off Jason’s attempts, keeping his cold gaze on Agent Romanoff. 

It isn't meant to be cruel, his blatant dismissal, Jason doesn't think, but this is a stark contrast from the usual gentle doctor that Jason is used to seeing. 

This is the angriest that Jason has seen Bruce yet, the exact emotion that he had been warned against.

This is Bruce, on the edge of hulking out. 

“You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff?” Bruce sneers. “You wanna know how I stay calm?”

In unison, Agent Romanoff and Director Fury both drop their hands to the guns that rest their belts. Jason doesn't know what that’ll do, especially after Bruce’s story, but he readies himself against them the same way. 

If a fight were to break out right in this instant, he knows whose side he'll be on. 

Jason scans his surroundings like clockwork, memorizing every little thing. He's never seen Bruce so worked up; he hadn't even known that Bruce  _ could  _ get this worked up. Then, his eyes land on what could be why.

“Bruce…” Jason tries again. Bruce doesn't even glance his way. “Put down the scepter.”

Bruce’s eyes jolt down to his hand, which had somehow unconsciously gotten ahold of the scepter. Before he has a chance to react, the computer beside him suddenly starts beeping.

“Got it,” Tony Stark says, speaking up for the first time. 

Bruce drops the scepter abruptly onto the table, striding over to the screeching computer.

“Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my little party trick after all,” he says brusquely, his sarcasm sending Jason a little bit of relief. Thankfully, his friend sounded normal. 

It seemed as if Loki’s scepter had made everyone argue with one another; Jason can only assume he wasn't affected because he held no ill feelings for anyone. He didn't know them well enough. 

He tries not to think about the fact that none of them should've known each other well either. How much could they hate after having met so quickly?

“You located the Tesseract,” Thor exclaims, at the same time Mr. Stark says, “I can get there faster.”

“The Tesseract belongs with Asgard!” Thor proclaims again, just as Captain Rogers tells Stark, “You're not going alone.”

“Wanna stop me?” The billionaire known as Iron Man mocks. 

“Put on the suit,” the captain replies heatedly. “Let's go a few rounds.”

Jason honestly finds himself at a loss for how eager the captain seemed willing to fight. 

Mr. Stark jeers, “I'm not afraid to hit an old man.”

“Put on the suit,” is Captain Rogers’ repeated reply. 

Jason’s gaze shifts over to Bruce as he sees his friends face whiten, tugging his glasses off to get a better look at the screen. 

He's just about to ask, “What?”, when the doctor mutters, “Oh my god,” and the world around them suddenly explodes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo how was it? I wrote this while I was on my trip in the middle of the night, soooo... Anyway. I literally got barely any writing done this week, sadly. I'll try to hunker down and write tonight, but I've just been too lazy to pull up the movie. Maybe I'll wing some scenes; I hope you guys won't mind. :) 
> 
> I'm not sure when the next update will be, honestly. Whenever I finish the chapter I guess? Guilty conscience will probably force me to update by next Saturday, but who knows. I have a pretty busy day Saturday... 
> 
> Anyhow - I hope everyone enjoyed! I loved writing this chapter, but I will say that next chapter is when Jason's character really makes an impact on the plot. (I've taken my own liberties with the movie :D) 
> 
> _Next chapter: The helicarrier is broken, Bruce is (kinda) broken, and Loki [has] broken [out]! Wherever shall our dear Jason go?_


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there, happy Friday everyone!! Sooo, two things:
> 
> 1\. You guys!! AHHHH we reached 1000 hits!!! That's amazing - I honestly can't thank you guys enough! As a thank you, I decided to upload this chapter earlier than intended (tomorrow). 
> 
> And 2. I went on the biggest writing binge ever this week guys. Like, it blows my mind. To my utmost shame yet huge pleasure, I spent the week working on this instead of the essays that I actually need to write. So basically? Good for you, bad for me. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys the chapter! (Personally, I enjoyed writing the end parts :P)

There are four things that happen at once: Director Fury and Jason are both flung at a nearby lab table, to which he slams ungracefully onto his side; Captain Rogers and Mr. Stark are both thrown to the ground in front of the nearest doorway; Thor, Jason’s pretty sure, is thrown out a window; and most importantly, Bruce and Agent Romanoff—both closest to the explosion—fall straight through the floor. 

In a heartbeat, both Jason and Rogers are back on their feet, the captain pulling Stark up and urging, “Put on the suit,” while Jason lends Director Fury his own hand. 

“Yeah,” Tony groans, as both men immediately begin sprinting out of the room. 

“Hill,” Fury says into the communicator hooked to his ear. A couple heartbeats pass as Fury awaits the agent’s reply. 

Jason stands stock still, as he, too, waits. 

Finally, Fury says, “Stark, you copy that?” 

The answer must be yes, he notes, as Fury rises and motions for Jason to follow him. 

“Coulson, initiate defensive lock down in the important sections, then get to the armory,” Fury orders, picking up the pace as he reenters the control room, speaking rapidly on his comm. 

“Here.” Without looking, the director shoves a tiny black device into Jason’s hands. 

A comm unit of his own, Jason recognizes. He wastes no time in pushing the tiny communicator into his ear, instantly finding himself included in the conversation. 

“Romanoff?” Fury is calling. 

That's followed by the sound of the agent in questions heavy breathing, and then a soft, “We’re fine.” A pause, and then, quieter, “We’re fine, right?”

Jason knows Agent Romanoff is referring to Bruce in the ‘we’.

“Engine three,” Mr. Stark is addressing the captain off to the side. “I'll meet you there.”

“Doctor,” Agent Romanoff is panting. “Bruce. You've got to fight it. This is just what Loki wants.” 

She's scared, Jason can tell. He wonders if he should be down there with them; if he'd be of any help at all. 

“You're gonna be okay, listen to me,” she tries. There's the sound of clanging, and more heavy breathing. “We're gonna be okay. I swear, on my life, I will get you out of this; you will walk away and never, ever have to—”

She doesn't get to finish, before a loud, warped version of Bruce’s voice interrupts her. 

“GET AWAY FROM ME!” Bruce shouts, and the voice is gruff, powerful, and not at all like the usual soft and smooth. 

Through the comm, Jason hears loud groaning, the sound of clothes ripping… he knows that Bruce must, at that moment, be Hulking out. 

“Bruce?” There’s only fear in the lone agent’s question. 

Loud yelling, followed by the sound of metal being whacked and machinery being squashed. Then, a massive roar. Jason doesn't need the comm unit to hear the sound or the rage—it echoes throughout the entire ship. 

The Hulk had finally made his appearance. 

Jason hears the sound of heavy footsteps at what unfolds next; he knows that Agent Romanoff is undoubtedly running from the Hulk. 

At the same time, Fury is ordering agents in the control room to move the helicarrier over water, in case the whole thing really did drop. 

Every second is flying by in a flurry, and Jason realizes that he's left with two options: accompany Rogers and Stark to help fix the helicarrier, or help Romanoff with the Hulk, who could also very well destroy the helicarrier himself. 

Both were pressing problems. Both could use all the hands they could get. 

The problem was—Jason only had one set of hands, and he knew where he would be more useful. The Hulk was indestructible; bullets did nothing to his skin. Jason’s skill set would do next to nothing to Bruce’s alter ego. 

He calculates the odds and chances in his head to figure out where he should go; it pains him when he realizes he’ll go with that instead of his heart. 

The chances of a immediate death was that much more imminent if the helicarrier wasn't fixed. Like it or not, it was much more likely to fall from lack of engine than from a Hulk out. Additionally, Thor was still nowhere to be found, and the only one on the ship capable of holding the Hulk would be the thunder god himself. If Jason’s calculations were correct, then Thor should’ve landed closed enough to assist Agent Romanoff. 

For Jason to go to help defend and fix the helicarrier, that meant he’d also have to to abandon his friend. 

He curses in his mind. He'd seen this coming, but,  _ Wasn’t this Loki’s plan all along? _

He comes to a decision. 

“Rogers, Stark,” Jason barks into the mic. “I'm on my way.”

»•«

“Stark, I'm here,” Steve says, eyeing the remains of engine three. It sure looked like the explosion had done a number to it. 

“Let's see what we got. We've got to get the superconducting cooling system back online, before we can access the rotors, and work on dislodging the debris,” Stark says, although half of his words are blowing straight over Steve’s head. “I need you to get to that control panel and tell me which relays are out of position.” 

Steve nods, even though the Iron Man couldn't see him, and attempts to follow the billionaire’s instructions.   


“What's it look like in there?”

Steve stares at the frayed panel in front of him, coming to one conclusion. He says, “It seems to run on some form of electricity.”

“Well, you're not wrong.”

»•«

Jason joins the captain and the armored hero just in time to help the captain fix the relays. He's silent as he dutifully assists the other man, and Jason knows that the captain doesn't really know what to make of him. 

He's surprised that Jason's with them, Jason knows.  _ He's probably wondering why I'm not with Bruce.  _

“Okay the relays are attached.” Captain Rogers says into his comm unit. “What's our next move?”

“Well, if I clear the rotors, this thing won't engage without a jump. I'm gonna have to get in there and push.” Iron Man says. 

Rogers’ head shoots up incredulously. “But if that thing gets up to speed, you'll get shredded.”

The genius explains, “A standard control unit can reverse the polarity, long enough to engage the mag—”

“Speak English!” 

On the other line, Jason knows the genius must be inaudibly sighing. “See that red lever?” Two sets of eyes dart towards the lever in question. “It'll slow the engagement down long enough for me to get out. When I say the word, pull it.”

The captain nods at the instruction, leaping over to the lever with ease. He glances at Jason, silently asking,  _ You coming too? _

Jason shakes his head. Something’s coming, Jason knows—something big. Another explosion maybe,

Jason isn't sure, but his instincts tell him of incoming danger. 

But it wouldn't be here. Rogers and Stark had enough hold on the situation so that Jason knew he wasn't needed. Where he needed to get to, however, was the trouble spot ASAP, so he can assist when time came. 

Jason doesn't speak, only jabs a finger towards the general direction of the control room, which he figures is the most likely spot of attack, as the central point on the ship. He waits for the captain’s nod, and then he's on his way. 

He's just about reached the control room when another explosion rocks the ship. 

Instantly, he braces himself as the ship rocks, ducking into a corner as the ship slowly begins to tilt.  _ They took out another engine,  _ he realizes, picking up the pace. 

He arrives in the control room just in time to witness the shootout between SHIELD and a group of intruders dressed head to toe in SHIELD gear. 

It isn't hard to figure out which side is winning; Director Fury and Agent Hill are both being pincered near the center, along with their ally agents, while the intruders have started swarming around the ship. 

Jason joins the fight like a shadow. He sidesteps a group of approaching intruders and then makes quick work of the group of five. The whole thing is over within seconds—he quickly evades the guns pointed at him and knocks a couple from their hands, throwing one man over his shoulder and elbowing another into the wall. He whips his gun out for the last three, giving one man a blow to the back hard enough for him to drop, swinging another in the face, and straight up shooting the last one in the shoulder. 

As he watches all five of them drop, he immediately raises his gun again, eyeing intruders circulating around the control room. With his other hand, he picks up a gun that he'd knocked onto the ground, and let's out five consecutive shots per gun. With a cold gaze, he watches as ten men across the room drops. 

Every head in the room whips to look at him as the shootout effectively ends. 

Jason doesn't say a word in the midst of all the stares, only nods at the doorway where he knows more intruders are coming. He doesn't waste a second as he leaves. 

He's sure that the control room could handle themselves now that he’s gone; he's given them all the edge needed to level the scales. 

In the meantime, Jason heads directly for engine three, where he'd seen a couple intruders head to earlier. He knows that both the Captain and Stark would need his help if those intruders interfered with their work. At this point, that engine  _ needed  _ to be fixed, or else the helicarrier really would fall out of the sky. He could feel their descent creeping in as the minutes ticked by. 

As soon as he reaches engine three, Jason is met with the sight of the Captain fighting off a couple intruders while Iron Man continued to diligently work. 

Carefully taking aim, Jason releases two shots from his gun, easily landing his shots. 

As both men drop at Captain Rogers’ feet, his eyes dart off to where Jason stands. “Thank you,” he says, and Jason responds with another stiff nod. 

“I'll take out anyone near you,” Jason directs. “You get ready to pull that lever.”

Nodding resolutely, the Captain dutifully re-positions himself next to the red lever. 

Jason again raises his gun, pulling the trigger anytime he sees an intruder run by. 

None of the shots he sends are kill shots, because he's well aware that most of these intruders are just agents being controlled against their will. They didn't deserve to die for what they couldn't control. 

Jason hears Mr. Stark making progress before he feels or sees it. Through his comm unit, he hears the armored man grunt from the exertion of pushing the propellers singlehandedly; a heartbeat later, he feels the ground beneath him begin to steady out. 

“Pull the lever,” the genius says. Jason hears the engine growing louder. 

“Got it,” the captain replies, pulling the lever as Jason fires off his last shot. 

“You can take it from here?” Jason prompts. Now that engine three was officially fixed, Jason knows that the duo shouldn't have any problems tackling the intruders themselves. 

He was needed elsewhere. 

“Yup, Jason, thank you for the help,” Captain Rogers replies, as Mr. Stark says, “Yeah, thanks so much, Goldbond!”

Jason takes that as his queue to leave—and he knows exactly where he needs to go.

«•»

By the time Jason finally reaches Loki’s prison room, Loki has already escaped, Thor has dropped out of the sky in Loki’s cage, and Agent Coulson is lying bleeding and prone on the floor. 

Immediately Jason heads over to the agent, rapidly cataloging the agent’s wound. 

_ Stab wound to the back and straight through his body,  _ Jason notes,  _ With an unknown weapon. _ He quickly narrows down on the list of what the weapon could possibly be; the size, shape, and their location of which severely limited the options. The wound didn't look very clean, nothing at all like how a knife wound is expected to look, so Jason soon realizes that it wasn't a knife that had stabbed Coulson, but actually Loki’s scepter—most likely done by Loki himself. 

The god in question was nowhere to be found as Jason scans his surroundings, so he instantly gets to work. 

Muscle memory guides him as he checks the dazed agent over, first looking for vitals and pulse, in addition the man’s airways. Finding the agent to be alive but barely so, Jason next lifts the man’s shirt and jacket to get a better look at the wound. Then he shrugs off his own jacket, pressing it against the wound to help stunt the bleeding on both sides. 

There isn't much he can do past that; to his knowledge, Jason isn't actually medically trained, and the extent of his medical expertise only reaches there. 

To his comm unit, Jason says, “I've found Agent Coulson outside of Loki’s cage. Loki has escaped and I believe that he launched Thor out down with the cage. I need a medical team for Agent Coulson ASAP.”

Instead of a medical unit arriving, it’s Director Fury himself that arrives first. 

“Med unit’s on the way,” the director says, bending down to check the agent himself. 

Almost as if the director’s voice had brought him out of his daze, Agent Coulson cracks an eye open. “I'm sorry, boss. The guy rabbited.”

“Just stay awake.” Fury orders. “Eyes on me.”

“Uh, I’m clocked out here,” the agent replies. It's a weak attempt at a joke. 

Jason tries applying a little more pressure to the wound so that the agent would awaken some more. 

“That's not an option,” Fury says. 

“It's okay, boss.” Agent Coulson’s eyes slowly begin to droop. Jason eases on the pressure, not wanting to injure the man further. “This was never gonna work, if they didn't have something… to…”

The agent’s eyes close, and Jason finds himself hoping that the man hadn't just died. 

Just to be sure, he motions for Fury to check the man’s vitals. 

“He isn't dead?” He questions. 

“Not yet,” the director responds. “You may have just saved his life.”

“That won't mean much if the med team doesn't get here soon,” Jason replies brusquely. 

“They'll be here any minute.” Fury pauses. “In the meantime, I need you to do me a favor.”

Jason eyes the director. He doesn't say a word. 

“I need you to go with it when I tell the others that Agent Coulson has passed.”

“You want me to lie,” Jason clarifies. “No.”

“It needs to—”

“ _ No, _ ” Jason repeats, more forcefully this time. His mind casts back to the couple he'd remembered killing, the daughter he'd immediately informed. “Unless it's the truth, I refuse to lie.”

“You heard Agent Coulson’s last words,” the director argues. “He  _ believed  _ in this team, and even he knows that they need a boost to work together. He's willing to be that boost.”

“I don't care,” Jason’s reply comes off apathetic, but on the inside, he wants to be  _ vicious.  _ He remembers the one time he’d lied about someone’s death—Marie, and she hadn't even been dead—he'd only lied to protect her. 

But this wasn't protection, even if it was the dying man’s wish. This was bringing real pain on people that care for the agent. Jason refused to be a bringer of that pain. 

“Jason,” the director pleads, starting to sound desperate. “Mr. Bourne.  _ Please,  _ you have to understand. If we can't get this team up and running, the Earth might very well be doomed. This isn't for the sake of a single person. It's for the planet.”

Jason stops. He thinks. 

“I won't support your lies, but I'll accept an omission of truth, for a short period of time.” Jason finally agrees. “Do with that what you will.”

It's all the signal, Fury needs, as the med team finally join them. 

“Agent Coulson is down,” Fury says into his comm. It isn't a lie, even if Jason knows what everyone will assume from the statement. 

“A medical team is on its way to your location—”

“They're here,” Fury interrupts. “They called it.”

»•«

“These cards were in Phil Coulson’s jacket. I guess he never did get you to sign them.” Director Fury is addressing Captain Rogers. They're all seated around another conference table—the director, the captain, Iron Man unsuited, and Jason himself. 

Fury drops a deck of trading cards with the good captain’s picture printed on the faces, splattered crimson with blood. Agent Coulson’s blood, apparently, even though Jason’s not actually sure if that's true. 

Captain Rogers eyes the cards sympathetically, while Mr. Stark stares with a haunted look in his eyes. 

“We're dead in the air up here,” Fury continues. “Our communications, the location of the Cube, Banner, Thor... I got nothing for you. I lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming.”

He approaches the captain. “Yes. We were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number, though, because I was playing something even riskier.”

The director pauses, then goes into the speech, “There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of of remarkable people to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could.”

It sounds awfully similar to the speech that Fury had been given Jason, making him wonder just how many times the director might've rehearsed it.

Now Fury glances at Mr. Stark, pushing for pity points. “Phil Coulson may no longer be here, but he still believed in that idea,” he says solemnly, “In heroes.”   


Abruptly, the billionaire gets up, storming out of the room without meeting anyone’s gaze.

As if expecting it, the director wistfully finishes, “Well, it's a good old-fashioned notion.”

Then the captain gets up as well, presumably to follow the billionaire, and Jason and Fury are left alone. 

A beat passes, before:

“How was it?” Fury questions, after Captain Rogers goes out of sight. “Do you think they'll be motivated?”

Jason doesn't reply, sitting ramrod straight in his seat. He doesn't want to be reminded of this, of any of this. He doesn't want to think of their loss of Bruce. 

“Was I laying it on a little too thick?” Fury continues. 

Finally, Jason shifts his gaze over to the one-eyed director. “Do you really think this will work? This so called ‘team’?”

“I do,” Fury says, all sincerity and confidence. 

“Why? Everyone on your supposed team seems to hold some form of contempt for each other. That scepter didn't produce it, it magnified it. Why do people who’ve only just met hold so much hate for each other?” Jason pauses. “Bruce probably put it best: they're no team. They're a time bomb, just waiting to explode.”

“They’ll get along when the time comes. Why? Simple. Because we don't have any other options.” Fury pins Jason with a  _ look.  _ “Now I've noticed that you didn't include yourself when referring to the team. Is that a no?”

Jason stares back, unflinching. “Bruce isn't here anymore. What reason do I have to stick around?”

“I think we both know that Bruce will return to us whenever he can.” It's true. It's highly unlikely that Bruce somehow died in his fall. The Hulk would've saved him. In that way, Jason didn't have to worry. He knew that the doctor was safe. “The question is: why are you basing your answer off of him? Why not base it off of  _ you? _ ” 

“Why would you want me to base it off of me?” Jason lifts his chin. “Wouldn't that just be a no?”

“No, I don't think it would just be a ‘no’, at all. I think it would be a yes.”

“And how do you figure that?”

“I don't know you, Jason Bourne, but I know people like you. I know what it is that you seek.”

Jason’s answering glare is cool, unwaveringly so. 

“There is  _ no one  _ like me.”

He rises to his feet fluidly, stalking out of the room. 

»•«

As soon as Jason makes it into the safety of the hallway, he knows that he's wrong. 

It isn't true at all, what he'd told Fury. 

He thinks of all the agents who had been sent after him, every Treadstone or Blackbriar agent out there. He doesn't know what choice they might've had in joining the program, or what they would've gone through before or after, but he knows that he isn't  _ alone.  _

There are plenty of people like him, and even though he knows that  _ yes,  _ in some ways, he could be considered unique, the opposite could be said as well. 

Take it all out, and strip it down to the core. Just like Jason, every agent would end up looking the same. A pawn to some government plan. 

And maybe only he, out of every member, managed to escape it all, but what did that matter? How unique did that really make him?

After a moment of just…  _ pondering  _ in the hall, Jason turns around. 

He knows his answer. 

»•«

Fury isn't surprised when Jason Bourne returns to the room only a couple minutes after he’d left. 

“I'll join your team,” Bourne says, not wasting a second. “Under a couple conditions.”

“And those are?” Fury tries not to sound surprised. He honestly hadn't expected for there to be conditions. 

“I'm not an official Avenger,” Jason says. “As in, I don't want the public, or really  _ anyone, _ to know about me as part of the team. I don't know how the government would react and it would be detrimental to the cause anyway. The team has enough fighters. What they need is a secret weapon.”

Everything that Bourne was saying made absolute sense. Fury hadn't thought about that at all, but apparently Bourne had thought it thoroughly through. 

“Agreed,” Fury says. “Any more conditions?”

“No more lying,” Bourne says, without missing a beat. “I'm going to reveal that Agent Coulson is alive, whether you like it or not. I highly suggest you reveal it before it comes to that.”

Fury slowly nods. “After all this is over.”

“I expected no less.”

“Anything else?” 

“No using me, like how you use your SHIELD agents. I'm a weapon, but I won't be one for the government any longer. I'm joining the Avengers purely because it has a good cause. Nothing else.” Bourne fixes Fury with a look that could melt bedrock. “I get to choose my own path, and I'm entitled to leave whenever I feel to. You can't control me.”

“Agreed,” Fury says. Then he tries, “But you're not a weapon—”  _ That we’d use,  _ is what he wants to say. Bourne interrupts him. 

“No, I am,” the ex-assassin replies harshly. “I’m a malfunctioned $30 million dollar U.S. weapon that blew up in their face. And I refuse to let them get their hands on me again, but I want to do good. So you follow my conditions, and we'll both get what we want.”

“Okay.”

“Are all my conditions are met?” Bourne prompts. 

They aren't bad conditions, Fury figures. Bourne would be a better ally than he would be enemy. He even added another factor to the team other than ‘weapon’—that being, he's a friend to Doctor Banner. Companionship could go along way, and the man could probably help keep the doctor’s alter ego at bay when the need arose for it. 

“Yes, they are,” Fury agrees. “Welcome to the team.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plot twist?? Phil survives ahhhh!! (Granted, he survives anyway, but technicalities, pfft) I had this planned from the start. When I was trying to figure out where Jason should go during the helicarrier attack and why, I was like, "Omg! Phil!!" So yeah, there you go.
> 
> Anywho, I'm excited to share that I've officially mapped out how long this fic will be - 10 chapters. So in other words, we've got three more chapters to go, and that I have a one-shot planned before we take off into Iron Man 3 territory. Exciting, huh? ;D
> 
> I hope everyone had/has a great week! I have a big test tomorrow and an essay due tonight, so wish me luck hehe. (Next update is sometime next week btw)
> 
>  
> 
> _Next chapter: Avengers assemble! With the Jason Bourne twist. ;)_


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Happy Friday? I had a really, really slow week with like - the ultimate amount of procrastination. Gah, it's gonna bite me in the ass, I can tell already... But hey, I'm updating right now, so that's a plus :)
> 
> Anyway, we're on Chapter Eight!!!! That's only two more chapters after this *-* Hope everyone enjoys! If it means anything, my sister loved this chapter the most. Hope you guys enjoy as much as did, hehe. :D
> 
> PS: I realize that I haven't thanked you guys for everything in a little while. Just wanted you to know that I am so, SO grateful for the amount of reads, kudos, and comments that I've gotten so far. It's really blew me away. I mean, we're at 84 kudos!! Sooo close to 100!! 1000 reads, 11 bookmarks... I never thought that many people would read this, so thank you, all of you!

“I know where the cube is!”

Tony Stark comes charging in the room buzzing with emotion, with Rogers only a step behind him. Jason examines the duo, noticing that the genius seemed frazzled and angry, but not so much directed at anyone in the room. He didn't look as upset as he had when he'd charged out of the room before either, leaving Jason to wonder if Fury’s half-truths and half-lies actually worked. 

At the doorway, the captain only looked as bewildered as Jason felt. 

“How?” Fury demands. “Where?”

“I already explained to Rogers, so he can explain it to you, because if I wanna be ready to leave anytime soon, I need to go  _ now, _ ” the genius says in a rush. “Long story short, Loki’s setting base at Stark Tower.”

“Wait, how do you kno—” Before Fury finishes the question, the billionaire darts out, leaving the director to turn his attention towards Captain Rogers. “Captain Rogers, what was Mr. Stark going on about?” 

The captain casts a cautionary glance over to Jason, who remains comfortably silent, and then he shrugs. “We were talking about what Loki could possibly want. Then we started—analyzing, I wanna say, Loki’s motives, and he realized that Loki doesn't just want to win. He wants to be  _ seen  _ as he's winning, so Stark realized that he'd want the… biggest, tallest stage for it. Monuments with his name plastered across the front. And he realized that the place would be Stark Tower.”

“Is he sure of that?” Fury says sharply. 

“If he wasn't sure then we wouldn't be flying over there right now,” Jason decides to point out. 

“True.” Fury straightens. “Then we’ll have to get ready to meet him. Captain Rogers, you’ll lead the team to meet Mr. Stark there, but first I want to briefly speak with you. Mr. Bourne, you head up to get ready and Captain Rogers will meet you at the quinjet.”

Jason nods and does what he’s told. He knows that Fury will want to update the captain on Jason’s prefered position within the team.

»•«

“What is the Avengers Initiative?” Steve doesn’t give the director the chance to speak first. By no means does he trust the man. Steve won’t allow himself to be fed lies any longer.

“I told you,” the director replies calmly. “It’s an idea we had, to put together a group of remarkable people, who—” 

“That was your speech to get me in,” Steve interrupts. “I got that part. At this point, I think it’s too late for me not to be roped into this at least briefly, so I want to know what part I and anyone else has to play.”

Despite what the director might think, Steve isn’t a blind follower. He may be new to this century, and its inhabitants may confuse him, but his ideals from his own time haven’t changed one bit. To this day, he holds with him the promise that he’d made to Erskine so long ago: to not be the perfect soldier, but instead be a good man.

“The team we originally had in mind included Mr. Stark, Doctor Banner, Thor, Agent Romanoff, Agent Barton, and yourself. I wanted you to lead it.”

Steve thinks back to the interactions between each member, and he comes up with a blank. 

The obnoxious son of Howard Stark, who Steve isn’t sure  _ what _ to make of; the brilliant gamma radiation scientist with dangerous anger issues; a supposed god of thunder with a brother out to destroy the world; and a pair of SHIELD agents that he barely knew, one of which had been mind controlled by Loki.

He’d either had minimal interaction with them, bad interactions, or zero interactions whatsoever. 

“How do you know that we’ll work well, together? How do you know that we’ll work at all?”

“I know that you’ll get the job done for this mission,” Fury says. “For now, that’s all that matters.”

“And after?”

“For now,” the director repeats, “That’s all that matters.”

Steve sighs. He knows he won’t be getting much else. 

“And what about Mr. Bourne? Will he be added as well?” He questions. Doctor Banner’s secret companion, who’d been offered and had refused to accompany them to Berlin. The man that had turned the tide their favor during the helicarrier defense earlier. The silent, yet very skilled Jason Bourne. 

“That’s what I kept you to talk about,” Fury says. “I just spoke with him, and he’s agreed to join us, under the condition that his role in the team remains unknown to everyone but the team itself. Instead of acting as a main fighter, he’ll act as a secret one.”

“What can he do?” Steve asks, he even though he’s already gotten a pretty good glimpse.

“You’ll have to ask him that.”

“But who is he, really?” Steve wonders aloud. “Why did Doctor Banner randomly have a someone like Bourne hanging out with him? They seem loyal to each other, but it doesn’t make much sense.”

“Most friendships don’t,” Fury replies, and Steve figures that’s true. Some friendships were pretty strange, even though Bourne and Banner probably had the strangest. Did they even have anything in common? “Evidently, they didn’t know about each other’s secrets when they befriended one another.”

“That… makes a lot more sense,” Steve says. “But how do you know that?”

“We don’t,” the director says. “It’s only a guess. But it does make the most sense, doesn’t it?” At Steve’s nod, Fury continues, “Mr. Stark should be getting ready to leave for Stark Tower by now. You shouldn’t be too far behind. Now that I’ve briefed you, I need you to go collect Agents Barton and Romanoff, suit up, and bring them to the quinjet. Mr. Bourne should be waiting for you there.”

“Alright.” Steve complies, sliding out the door. “Where will I find the agents?”

“East wing,” Fury calls as Steve leaves. It’s followed by a quiet, “Good luck,” that Steve’s sure he wouldn’t have heard without his enhanced hearing.

_ Thank you,  _ Steve thinks wistfully in return, even though he knows he’s just basically been dragged into a position in a team that he isn’t even sure he wants to be in.

Steve reaches the east wing in record time, striding up to the doorway. 

“Time to go,” he announces to its inhabitants.

Natasha Romanoff turns with furrowed eyebrows. “Go where?”

“I’ll tell you on the way,” he says. “Can you fly one of those jets?”

“I can.” A man steps out of the connecting bathroom, presumably Agent Barton. 

Steve eyes both agents, noticing the male agent’s attire. “You got a suit?”

“Yeah.”

“Then suit up.” 

»•«

Jason hears his new “team” approaching before he sees them. All chatter in the landing and takeoff bay quiets as the imposing group arrived. 

“Captain,” Jason greets respectfully. 

The captain stands proudly in front of the two agents trailing him; all three suited up and looking as battle ready as ever. “Will you be joining us, Mr. Bourne?” 

Jason feels his respect for Captain Rogers rise. He's sure that Fury has already told the captain of Jason’s situation and conditions. The fact that the captain was asking himself proved that the man wanted confirmation from Jason himself. 

“Where are you headed?”

“New York,” the captain says. “Stark Tower, more precisely. You in?”

“Depends,” Jason says. “First, I think formal introductions are needed.”

Jason eyes the man standing beside Agent Romanoff. 

Agent Barton, Jason knows of him. He'd been Loki’s right hand man after the god has taken control of the man’s mind, basically leading the attack on SHIELD. In the midst of the all the chaos on the helicarrier, Romanoff had managed to knock him out of it. 

From the looks of him, Jason could tell that the man was very well trained and subsequently very good in battle. Dirty blond hair sits atop the agent’s head, while he has a lean, muscled build, dressed in dark form fitting gear, his hands and fingers gloved. Judging by the quiver full of arrows strapped to his back and the bow in the agent’s hands, he must be a marksmen.  _ A good one at that,  _ Jason notes,  _ if he chooses that as his main weapon.  _

“Clint Barton,” Agent Barton introduces, “Codenamed ‘Hawkeye’.”

Judging from the code name, he must be good with a bow and arrow indeed. 

“Loki took control of you,” Jason says, carefully emotionless. “You're good to go?”

The agent straightens. “You could say it's fueling me.”

“Vengeance?”

“Well.” Agent Barton smirks. “I’d just call it some good, old-fashioned revenge.”

Jason nods in acceptance. Revenge, he understands. Given the circumstances, it's the best answer he could've gotten. 

“And you've already met me, but I'm Natasha Romanoff. Codenamed ‘Black Widow’.”

_ Black Widow, _ Jason figures the code name matches the skilled agent perfectly.  _ Like the deadly spider.  _

“Steve Rogers, Captain America,” Rogers finishes. “And you?”

“Jason Bourne.”

“Codename?”

“I don't have one.” Jason shrugs. “Never needed it.” In reality, “Jason Bourne”  _ could  _ be considered his code named. That is, if he actually went by any other name. 

“What can you do?” Captain Rogers asks, sounding genuinely curious. 

“Fury didn't tell you?” 

“He gave me the express version, the file version,” the captain explains. “But I want to know your version.”

“I can do a lot of things, Captain,” Jason says. “But I was made to be a weapon. A secret weapon. Take what you want from that—because that's where my strengths lie.”

It's not a decent explanation at all, if the looks on the SHIELD agents standing just behind Rogers' back are anything to go by. Still, when Rogers only nods in understanding, Jason finds himself respecting the captain even more. “Okay. You got a suit you can put on?”

Jason glances down at his attire, realizing that he's still dressed as casually as ever. Not at all matching the dark, form-fitting SHIELD agent suits or the star spangled outfit that the captain currently wore. 

“If I wore a suit, then I wouldn't be much of a secret, would I?” Jason says. “I can work in these clothes.”

He’s used to fighting in normal clothes anyway. 

The captain tips his head in acceptance. “And weapons?”

Jason lifts his shirt and jacket just enough to display the weapons belt that he’d looted from the armory earlier. Clipped to it is a new gun, across from the gun he’d originally brought with him, and a new hunter’s knife. Attached to the empty slots of the belt are as many clips of ammo as he can fit. 

“Lead the way, Captain.” 

He steps aside to allow the captain through, coming into stride to the man’s right, landing himself right beside Agent Barton. 

Captain Rogers leads them right up to the nearest prepped quinjet, paying no heed to any other SHIELD agents or workers. 

“Hey, you guys aren’t authorized to be here,” a helpless maintenance worker protests as they enter the jet. 

“Son.” Rogers pauses, a note of warning in his voice. “Just don’t.”

The man let's them through. 

»•«

The ride to Stark Tower is mostly silent, on Jason’s part anyway. Mostly. 

The only conversation goes like this:

“Have you ever done anything like this before?” Rogers asks, his attempt at small talk. 

Agent Barton is flying the jet, while Agent Romanoff leaves her attention firmly focused on her feet, leaving only Jason to reply. 

“Which part?” 

“The—” Rogers’ cheeks flush, flustered. He purses his lips. “Well, the  _ any  _ part.”

Jason shrugs slowly. “The magic part? That's new. And the ‘team’ part?” He leaves that part open. 

“You and Doctor Banner—” The captain tries. 

“We had a partnership,” Jason says. “A friendship. We could be called a team, yeah.”

“But?” This time it's Agent Romanoff that finally speaks. 

“But we weren't together for that long, and for the most part, I've always worked alone,” Jason finishes. 

“Then why are you here? Working with us now?” The woman called Black Widow questions. 

It's the question of the day, isn't it? Truthfully, Jason doesn't know. But the answer comes to him simply enough. 

“Because I'm needed.”

»•«

By the time the quinjet, and therefore its passengers, arrive at Stark Tower, the Tesseract has already activated, a blinding blue beam pointed upwards, opening a portal in the sky. 

Jason sees the Iron Man armor—a new one now, he notes, cleaner and free of dents—zip across the sky, distracting the army of Chitauri now exiting from the portal. On Stark Tower, Jason also sees Thor and Loki battling, brother gods finally crossing weapons, creating a fury light show for all to see. 

“Stark, we’re on your 3, headed northeast.” Agent Romanoff has taken the other pilot seat of the quinjet. 

“What, did you stop for drive-thru?” Comes the billionaire’s sarcastic reply. “Swing up park, I'm gonna lay ‘em up for you.”

Iron Man leads a part of the army right up to the quinjet, and neither SHIELD agent has much trouble shooting the intruders out of the sky.

Narrowly turning a corner, Jason watches as the agents duo’s eyes set sights on the battle between Loki and Thor. 

“Take the shot?” Agent Barton says, positioning the jet right in front of Loki. 

“Yeah.” 

The shot fires unhitched. Unfortunately, Loki just manages to spot the attack, slicing his scepter cleanly through the air to intercept it. The shot ricochets back as if bouncing off a mirror. The quinjet just barely manages to tilt hard enough to avoid its passengers getting one-shot. Instead, the counter fired beam hits the quinjet’s right wing, instantly destroying the ship’s balance. 

“Hold on!” Jason hears Captain Rogers shout as the quinjet begins to dangerously lean, beginning its grueling descent out of the sky. 

He grabs ahold of the side of the jet while the captain leaps to grip the top. There's a thunderous crash as the SHIELD agents just barely manage to drop the quinjet on a narrow strip of highway concrete. 

The door to quinjet opens as soon as they land, Agents Barton and Romanoff throwing off their seat belts and headphones in order to hurry out after Captain Rogers and Jason. 

Jason scans his surroundings with a detached eye, even as he takes in all the ruins around him—people running, panicked, as Chitauri soldiers race around on the ground and in the sky, with buildings crumbling all around them. 

_ The city looks like a war zone,  _ Jason finds himself thinking, a second before he realizes he's never actually seen a war zone before. 

Loud screams fill the air as people continue to panic around them, but suddenly everyone’s eyes are up to the sky, or more accurately, the portal taking residence in the sky. 

The portal, which had already been steadily feeding Chitauri soldiers to the Earth, was just releasing its newest and largest intruder yet—a massive mechanical whale-like  _ thing  _ that lowers itself from the portal, ramming into buildings as it releases even more soldiers from off its body. 

The first thing Jason thinks when he sees the reptilian-like foe is that there's only one person he knows that could possibly take it on. 

Jason doesn't allow himself to worry.  _ He'll be here soon.  _

“What the fu—” Jason hears someone mutter near him, as Captain Rogers says into the comm, “Stark, you seeing this?”

“Seeing, but still working on believing.” Iron Man grunts. “Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?”

“Banner?” Rogers echoes incredulously. 

Jason replies, “Not yet. Hopefully he’ll be here soon.”

“ _ Bourne?! _ You came here, too?” 

Jason doesn't respond for a moment, eyeing the behemoth dragging itself across the sky. “I was needed.”

“Good to have you here,” the genius says sincerely. And then quieter, he adds, “You think he’ll show?”

“You know the answer to that just as well as I do.”

There's a small breath of relief on the other side of the comm. And then his voice comes back, harder, “Well then, team, we’ll have to hold them back until jolly green gets here.”

Jason watches as Iron Man jets past them, circling around the mechanical beast. At the same time, he sees some Chitauri soldiers fly over a vehicle covered street, shooting at the cars until a chain reaction causes every car to topple and explode. 

Jason leaps into action, darting into the rubble to help pull out the survivors. 

“Come on,” he urges, “You gotta get out of here.” 

A woman whimpers as he pulls her to her feet, as a man with his child both grasps his hand like a lifeline. 

Jason tugs everyone he can find over to the hoard of NYPD around the corner, figuring the police would be able better equipped to handle innocent civilians. 

Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Captain Rogers speaking, presumably, to the NYPD captain, and across the street he sees both SHIELD agents combating the Chitauri soldiers, unleashing barrages of arrows and gunshots. 

Jason releases a couple of gunshots of his own, clearing the way as he assists Hawkeye and Black Widow in releasing some trapped civilians from a bus. 

“You need men in these buildings,” Jason hears the Captain saying. “There are people inside and they're going to be running right into the line of fire. You take them to the basements, or through the subway. You keep them off the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th.”

“Why the hell should I take orders from you?”

There's a loud sound of clanging through the comms. Jason spares a glance to see the Captain battling some Chitauri on top of a car, blocking strikes with his shield and then swinging it hard enough to knock them down, punching another, and flinging the last one clean off. 

“I need men in those buildings. Lead the people down and away from the streets. We're going to set up a perimeter all the way down 39th Street,” Jason hears the officer shout. 

Through the comms comes the sounds of missile strikes. Jason looks up to see the Iron Man armor launch rockets at the monstrous Chitauri beast. Screeching, it turns to chase him accordingly. 

“Well, we got its attention,” the billionaire says. “What the hell was step two?”

No answer comes for the question; every member locked in combat of their own. Captain America rejoins Jason and the agents on the highway strip, creating a battle royale of converging Chitauri around the defending Avengers. 

Hawkeye notches and releases arrow after arrow, while Captain America tosses his shield out like a boomerang, knocking out any Chitauri that approaches. At the same time, Black Widow does a deadly dance with her enemies, finally yanking one of the spears out of its grip and using it as her own weapon. Jason hooks his gun back onto his belt and does the same, snatching a spear for each hand to slice through the offenders. 

The fighting suddenly reaches a brief recess when an onslaught of lightning bolt drops down from the sky, frying every Chitauri in the vicinity and signaling the arrival of Thor. 

Thor drops to them in a mighty leap, fitting of a god. 

Captain America meets him halfway. “What's the story upstairs?”

“The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable,” Thor informs. 

“Thor’s right,” Iron Man adds, “We gotta deal with these guys.”

“How are we going to do this?” 

“As a team,” the captain says, without missing a beat. 

“I have unfinished business with Loki,” Thor proclaims, and Hawkeye shoots Thor a beady eyed look. 

“Yeah?” He grumbles. “Well, get in line.”

“Save it,” Captain America interrupts. He goes into full on planning mode. “Loki’s going to keep this fight focused on us, and that's what we need. Without him, these things will run wild. We got Stark up top. He's going to need us to—”

A soft hum floats through the air, interrupting the conversation at hand. All eyes turn to the instrument of that sound, landing on a small motorcycle and the figure disembarking off it. 

“So… this all seems horrible.”

It's like a breath of air is finally released. 

Amidst all the Chitauri, the rubble, and the flames, Jason feels like the tides are finally beginning to turn—all because of one thing. 

Their team was finally all together. Bruce had finally arrived. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bruce has rejoined us!! YAY! Like Jason said, the team's finally together guys... Brings a tear to my eye; it's so exciting. I mean, who doesn't love team bonding? Or, errr, team forming in this case. 
> 
> Oh! And if anyone is wondering, series wise - which, if you haven't subscribed yet, do that ASAP :D - I've worked out the order and am currently working on deciding titles. So, I'll tell ya when I get those up, but I've got the basic idea. Soon enough, you'll see it on the series description! (Y'know, whenever I GET to the series description, haha.)
> 
> Hope everyone had a good week! Here's to hoping my next one is more productive. 
> 
>  
> 
> _Next Chapter: Battle of Chitauri! ~Jason Bourne Style~ ;)_


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I am sooo sorry about the lack of updates yesterday... I don't even have a real excuse. I just honest-to-god forgot lmao (But in my defense I was working)
> 
> But in other news... WE REACHED 100 KUDOS GUYS!!!!! Thanks sooo much to ALL of you! I'm so happy that people are enjoying this. As a present, **I updated the series (The Bourne Avenger) description to reflect the titles of what I currently plan to write.** That being, a one-shot in between every move rewrite. One-shots are all subject to change depending on whatever I feel like writing, of course, but the movie rewrite schedule should be correct. Check that out whenever you have the chance!
> 
> So without further ado, here's Chapter Nine - the Battle of New York.

It's almost a comical sight, to see Bruce ride in on such a slow moving, barely functional motorcycle. People might've actually laughed it it weren't for the cleared streets, upturned cars, and the broken remains of buildings surrounding them. 

“So… this all seems horrible.”

That one makes Jason want to laugh. Through it all, apparently Bruce hadn't lost his dry humor. 

As Bruce’s eyes shift over each person standing in front of him, they slide smoothly over Jason. 

_ He doesn't look all that surprised to see me, _ Jason notes. 

“I've seen worse,” Natasha Romanoff says.

Bruce winces. “Sorry.”    


“No,” the female agent says cautiously, “We could  _ use _ a little worse.”

“Stark?” The captain calls through the comms, sounding surprised even in spite of Jason’s vouching for Bruce’s appearance. “We got him.”

“Banner?”

“Just like you said.”

“Then tell him to suit up,” Iron Man says. “I'm bringing the party to you.”

The Iron Man armor streaks across the sky, turning the corner to reveal the massive Chitauri beast following hot on his tail.    


“I don't see how that's a party…” Romanoff murmurs offhandedly. 

“Doctor Banner, now might be a good time for you to get angry.”

“That's my secret, Captain,” Bruce says, backing up methodically. As he speaks, the dim green shirt he's wearing slowly begins to rip, pale skin making way for a thicker, greener tinge. “I'm always angry.”

Jason sees Bruce’s eyes flash green, right before the transformation finishes, and then suddenly Bruce is no more—instead replaced by a giant green rage monster with large fists, wearing worn but somehow fitting pants. 

It's the first time Jason’s seen his friend Hulk out, so he watches with a close eye as the Hulk turns to face his new foe, leaping to meet it with massive fists raised. 

The Hulk seems to have no trouble stopping the Chitauri beast in its tracks, punching the serpent right in the face. The punch velocity must not match what the Chitauri’s had been, because suddenly it’s flopping head over heel, free falling straight towards the other Avengers’ positions. 

“Hold on!” Iron Man shouts, raising a gauntlet and firing multiple tiny rockets. 

The rockets do their job. When they impact the Chitauri serpent, and the whole thing explodes midair, raining down alien metallic parts all over them. Jason takes cover with Hawkeye behind a broken down taxi cab, while Captain America shields both himself and Black Widow with his shield, and Iron Man simply darts out of the way. 

The moment feels absolutely triumphant as they look upon the remains of the Chitauri beast, only for the instant to be interrupted by a series of ear splitting screeches emanating from the remaining Chitauri soldiers scattered around New York. 

“Are they calling for backup?” Jason voices his thoughts aloud, following his gut feeling. 

Danger was coming, he knows. Even more danger than they’d already been in. 

Automatically, the makeshift team reacts to his suggestion, grouping themselves together into a circle, back-to-back in order to prepare themselves for their next battle. 

Jason finds himself surprised by how easily the movement comes to him. He raises both guns into position as the others ready themselves around him, both SHIELD agents reloading their respective weapons as Thor and Captain America ready theirs, and Iron Man and the Hulk pull themselves into battle ready positions of their own. 

Jason finds his guess is proven correct when, not a second later, he sees hundreds more Chitauri exit from the portal including, at least, a couple more matching Chitauri serpents. 

“Guys…” Black Widow mutters, eyeing their newest enemies closely. 

“Call it, Captain,” Iron Man says.

“Alright, listen up…” The captain says, back into planning mode. “Until we can close that portal, our priority's containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash.”

Obediently, both men in question obey.

“Wanna give me a lift?” Hawkeye addresses.    


“Right,” Iron Man replies. He picks the archer up from underneath his arms. “Better clench up, Legolas.”

And then both men launch upwards to the roof tops. 

As soon as they're gone, the captain turns to Thor. “Thor, you gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow 'em down. You got the lightning. Light the bastards up.”

Thor nods at his orders, steadily swinging his trusty hammer around his hand. A moment later, he too is flying upwards. 

Then, the captain turns to his remaining team members: Agent Romanoff, Jason himself, and the Hulk. 

“You and me, we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here,” the captain says to Romanoff. “And Hulk?” The Hulk fixes the captain with a glare, but the man doesn't shy away. 

“Smash!” 

At this, the Hulk smiles—partway between a grin and a smirk—and leaps away to join the combat around him.

“What about me?” Jason says as soon as Bruce’s alter ego has gone, knowing that the captain hadn't forgotten him. 

He flicks more ammo into his guns as the captain mulls, sounding almost hesitant. “You wanted to be the secret weapon, right?”

Jason nods. “I'll do whatever you need me to do.”

“How quickly do you think you can get to the top of Stark Tower?” 

Jason eyes the building in the distance. It's tall enough that he's sure he can't scale it under these conditions—with the Chitauri flying around, he could easily get knocked off. Plus, he doesn't have any equipment for it. 

But through the inside? Well, it wouldn't exactly take him long to climb the stairs. 

“Quickly enough,” he says aloud. 

“Good.” Captain America nods. “Now I need you to get up there and figure out how to shut that thing down. We can't have that portal open forever, or it'll run us over and then New York.”

Jason actually has no idea how he’ll manage to break through an impenetrable force field, but he nods anyway. He figures he’ll tackle one problem at a time.  _ Isn’t Eric Selvig up there anyway?  _ He’ll get the scientist to help him when he reaches the top; if he found the man to still be mind controlled, then he'd have no problem delivering a blow to the head hard enough to activate some “cognitive recalibration” of his own. 

“You got it, Cap,” he says. A beat passes, and then he turns away, unsure of where the “Cap” had come from.  _ Another memory? _

He ignores the headache that he knows will come from another flashback. He has a job to do. 

»•«

Jason’s clothing actually turns out to be the perfect disguise as he makes his way over to Stark Tower. Nobody pays him any attention even though he's headed in the opposite direction, and he has no trouble handling any provoking Chitauri soldiers that come a little too close. 

The police doesn't even notice him as he slips right past them, completely invisible yet still in full sight—for anyone bothering to look. 

And for whatever reason, sneaking by brings back another memory of his: the one time he'd confronted Conklin in Paris. 

_ “I don't send you to kill,” _ Conklin had said. _ “I send you to be invisible. I send you because you don't exist.” _

Before, his invisibility had aided him in lying low, hiding from the government and not getting found by Treadstone. Even before that, his invisibility had aided him in allowing the government to use him as a weapon. Now, it's helping him in a new way—a new, better legacy, than the other ones he'd lived. 

Jason steels himself, and quickens his pace. 

He enters Stark Tower with relative ease, finding the building to be out of power. He's glad that the tower is made mostly of glass, and thus he can see using the natural sunlight. 

Finding the staircase is simple; he jogs up at a steady pace, sure that he won't run out of energy by the time to the reaches the top. The tower may be tall and the staircase steep, but he knows that his body will easily handle the ascent. 

Eyeing the staircase above him, he estimates that it'll take maybe 6-7 minutes to reach the top. 

“How's it going out there?” He questions, when he's about halfway. 

He's been hearing loud crashes through the comms the entire time, usually accompanied by the occasional grunt. Additionally, he's also heard conversations between members that he doesn't partake in, just private instructions for the members out on the field. Quick glances at the battle have shown him tidbits as well: Iron Man and Captain America, teaming up in the streets; Black Widow hitchhiking on a Chitauri soldier’s vehicle to join Hawkeye on the rooftops; Thor and Hulk battling together on top of a Chitauri serpent in the air. 

“Not so great,” Captain America says. 

Iron Man asks, “You almost at the top?”

“About halfway,” Jason informs. “Maybe 3 minutes away.”

“Hurry,” the billionaire urges. Jason hears something in the back explode. And then he adds, “But no rush, of course.”

If they weren't in the middle of a battle, he might've laughed. Instead, Jason quickens his pace. 

»•«

When Jason finally reaches the top, he’s just in time to witness Dr. Erik Selvig beginning to wake up—but a heartbeat later, a figure lands just in front of him, and Jason finds himself coming face to face with Loki himself.

“And who might you be?” The god murmurs, eyes glinting curiously. 

“I found Loki,” Jason says into his comm, eyes hard and unmoving. 

A bunch of shouts come from his comms at the same time, but the only one that matters is Thor’s, “I'm coming!”

“What’s your name? You weren't on the list that Barton gave me,” the god says, arrogant and unhurried, but still with a hint of mischievousness and curiosity. 

“He wasn't aware of it,” Jason says, purposely ignoring the first question. He's careful to keep his fingers from twitching on his gun. “But then again, neither was I.”

“Any reason for that?”

Jason doesn't shrug, eyes forward, but he does respond, “They thought I was dead. And I wanted it kept that way.”

“Pity.” The god smirks. “Well, you'll wish you are in a moment, after I—”

Jason ignores the gods monologue, favoring Thor’s voice in the comms instead. “I'm almost there,” the ally god calls. 

But suddenly, before Thor gets the chance to reach them, a loud roar sounds just beyond Jason, and then Jason gets to watch firsthand as the Hulk tackles the god right off the ground and through the nearby window. 

Jason’s head whips to follow the movement, just as the Hulk roars again.  _ “Go!”  _ The roar seemed to be saying.  _ “I can handle this.” _

Jason doesn't know how he's able to take that much from a simple roar, but the look that the Hulk had also given him had been enough as well. 

_ See Bruce?  _ Jason wants to tell his friend.  _ The Other Guy isn't so bad after all.  _

Jason speedily makes his way over to the fallen Dr. Selvig, dropping his guns back onto his belt and lending a hand to help the man up. 

“Who are you?” The doctor groans, rubbing at his head. 

“Not important,” Jason says quickly. “Doctor, do you know how to shut that off?” He points to the still beaming Tesseract. 

The doctor blinks slowly, rubbing his temple thoughtfully. “Yes, I—yes,” the doctor says, “When I made it, I must've been at least slightly aware, because I left a loophole. We need—we need another power source. Something just as strong.”

Realization dawns on Jason. His eyes dart to the object in question. “Loki’s scepter.”

The doctor nods. 

“Okay,” Jason says. “Stay here. I'll go get it.”

Jason doesn't waste any time moving to retrieve the scepter, hurrying down the stairs to where the scepter lay on the the large balcony patio. 

As soon as the scepter is in his hands, Jason is climbing his way back up to the peak of Stark Tower. 

Before he reaches the top, however, he hears another roar sound from the Hulk. He turns just in time to witness the Hulk swing Loki like a rag doll, slamming him on the ground multiple times so that the result is Loki lying on the ground dazed and out of commission. 

“Puny god,” Jason hears the Hulk mutter, before he leaps off the tower to fight more of the Chitauri army. 

Jason resumes his job as well, climbing up the stairs double time. 

“Doctor Selvig,” he says as soon as he reaches the top. “What do I do now?”

“You need both power sources to touch,” the doctor explains. “Point the scepter into the Tesseract’s force field. There’ll be a lot of pressure against it, but with enough strength you should be able to get it through.”

“Okay,” Jason says, lifting the scepter. Through his comm, he calls, “I can close it! Should I do it now?”

He positions the scepter in front of the Tesseract, preparing to drive it in—

“No wait!” Tony Stark shouts urgently, stopping Jason in his tracks. 

“Stark, these things are still coming,” Captain Rogers says. 

“I got a nuke coming in. It's going to blow in less than a minute, and I know just where to put it,” Iron Man says, then quieter, “Save the rest for the turn, J.” 

Jason’s eyes dart towards the lone red streak in the sky. He follows the armor as it does a 90 degree turn upwards, right in front of Stark Tower. He gets a front row view as Tony Stark heads straight for the open portal, nuclear missile nestled firmly on his back. 

“ _ Stark! _ ” Jason barks, worried despite himself. 

“Stark, you know that’s a one way trip?” The captain says, and there’s resignation in his voice. 

_ Why? _ Jason wants to taunt.  _ Guilty, now that you've been proven wrong? _ He stomps out that vicious part of him instantly, unsure where it even came from. Instead, he focuses his eyes on that red form getting smaller in the sky, unable to erase the sense of dread pooling in the pit of his stomach. 

_ “Sir, shall I try Ms. Potts?”  _ Jason hears a muted British voice say. His grip on Loki’s scepter tightens. 

“Might as well,” Mr. Stark grunts into the mic, obviously unaware that he’d forgotten to turn it off. 

A soft ringing fills the comm, signaling the call attempting to go through, but even before it starts, Jason knows the result. 

_ It won't make it in time,  _ Jason thinks. The armor was already too close to the portal. 

With bated breath, the whole team watches as Iron Man dives through the portal, with only seconds to spare. 

“Come on, Stark,” Natasha Romanoff mutters. 

Jason watches, waits, and prepares, awaiting for the moment when the armored genius billionaire would come back down. 

He doesn't. 

Even through the portal, Jason hears the sound of the nuke exploding. But still, he doesn't see any sign of the billionaire returning. 

Jason’s heart drops. 

“Close it,” the captain says, thick with emotion. 

Jason doesn't. 

He waits a second, then two, three. He doesn't see the point in closing the portal so early, not when every Chitauri had dropped dead the second the nuke had exploded. 

He doesn't want to be the cause of another innocent, another  _ good  _ person’s death, not when there's still a chance of the billionaire returning. 

“Bourne?” The captain questions, obviously confused as to why the portal was still open. Five seconds have past, and even Jason was starting to lose hope. 

With a heavy heart, he obeys. “Roger that,” he says, pushing the scepter straight through the Tesseract’s forcefield. 

As soon as the two power sources make impact, the beam goes out like a blown candle, and Jason glances up to see the portal slowly closing—only to see the Iron Man armor slip right through. 

Jason releases a breath. 

“Son of a gun,” the captain mutters, filled with relief. 

As the Iron Man armor continues to lower, however, the problem becomes abundantly clear: he's going too fast. He isn't flying, he's  _ falling.  _

“He's not slowing down!” Thor exclaims, and Jason knows that he must be swinging his hammer, preparing to catch their fallen teammate. 

_ Save him!  _ A voice in Jason’s mind shouts. 

But before anyone has the chance to do anything, a roar sounds, and in the blink of an eye, Iron Man is caught within the arms of the Hulk, who slams into a building and slides his way down. 

Jason watches from the top of Stark Tower as his teammates rush over to the Hulk and the fallen Iron Man. Leaning over the armor, Thor rips off the face plate, and even though Jason doesn't see the damage from his spot up top, he knows from the muffled sighs that the worst must've happened. 

_ Help him!  _ He wants to shout, but his mouth stays firmly closed, knowing that he would be of no use. 

Tony Stark was dead. 

Heavy breathing surfaces through the comm, and Jason sees the Hulk lift himself in agitation. Then comes the loudest roar that Jason had heard yet, a wake-up call loud enough that Jason heard it with full clarity on top of Stark Tower. 

Tony Stark jerks awake, gasping loudly. “What the hell? What just happened?” He gasps again. “Please tell me nobody kissed me.”

Jason feels a smile tug at his lips, which he barely manages to suppress.  _ He's alive!  _ The genius hadn't deserved to die. 

For a couple seconds, there's only breathing. Everyone’s trying to absorb the miracle in at once. 

“We won,” finally, Steve says. 

And they had. 

“Alright hey, let's just not come in tomorrow guys, let's just take a day,” Tony groans. 

Everyone’s kind of muted to the genius’ murmuring, probably still riding the save-the-day high. 

Jason sure feels victorious.  _ We won.  _

“You ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it,” the genius continues. 

This time, Jason really does smile. “I'm in,” he says. “After, y'know. All of this.”

“Alright!” The billionaire cheers. “Can always count on you, Goldbond.”

“We're not finished yet,” Thor interrupts. 

Heavy breathing again. “And then shawarma after.”

»•«

Loki wakes up to see seven people (if the raging green beast could be counted as a person) standing above him. 

Weapons are pointed, but Loki only notices that his whole body aches. Barton seems angriest of all, notching an arrow right in front of Loki’s face. 

Behind the archer stands everyone else, with notably his cursed brother behind the Iron Man and beside the Hulk, Captain America just behind Barton and the Black Widow right next to him. Beside her, stands the last man, of whom Loki still doesn't know the name.  _ The secret Avenger? _

Straight faced, the mystery man grips  _ Loki’s _ scepter, in his hands. 

Struggling to pull his sore body up, Loki sighs. 

“If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Jason pretty much replaced Natasha's role. But in my defense, this was actually planned by Steve - as seen in the chapter - which is actually a step above the "wing it" kinda plan that canonically happened. This was smoother, anyway, hehe. 
> 
> Anyway, we're reaching the final stretch guys!!! I can't believe we've come so far. After Chapter Ten (which will be up next week), there will be a one-shot, before I go for a Iron Man 3 rewrite. Hopefully there won't be an extended wait for these ones, but that depends on how much writing I get done in the meantime. I've been pretty busy recently, but hopefully that'll let up sometime next week. Thanks again everyone!!
> 
> _Next chapter: Basically the epilogue. Short and sweet, just like Tony Stark. ;D_


	10. Chapter Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're in the final stretch guys!!! This is a quick wrap-up chapter. Go on an read it then go to the final end note :)))

After the battle, the team briefly parts ways. Not before trying that shawarma joint that Stark had wanted to try first, of course. 

Everyone’s half-asleep during the meal; the whole atmosphere is an awkward silence. Still, afterwards the team departs from one another—everyone just really wanting time to themselves to clean up—with promises of reuniting the next day in order to really finish things. 

Jason finds himself leading Bruce to a small motel that  _ hadn't _ been destroyed in in the battle New York City, and when the owner lays eyes on Bruce, he allows them to stay the night for free. 

_ “Anything for one of the Avengers,” _ the man says. It brings Jason a rush of relief, the fact that the man doesn't recognize him whatsoever. 

The sleep that night is easy, almost satisfying. 

»•«

The next morning, Bruce and Jason head out to a nearby café that’s still mostly standing, each ordering a coffee to start the day. 

Sipping softly on his drink, the soft trill of a ringing phone is what gets Jason’s attention. He looks for the location of the sound, but the café is empty; there's nobody near them.  _ So where's it coming from?  _

_ It sounds like…  _ “Is that coming from you?” Jason asks aloud, puzzled. 

Bruce fumbles for his pockets, coming out with a shiny new phone in his hands. 

Jason raises an eyebrow, as Bruce tentatively lifts the phone to his ear. 

Bringing a finger to his lips, Jason reaches over, plucking the phone out of Bruce’s grip and laying it on the table between them. Next, he  swiftly presses the “Accept Call” and the speaker button. 

_ “Hey Brucie-Bear!” _ A voice calls through the phone’s speaker. 

Bruce visibly deflates with relief. “Tony?”

_ “Got it in one!” _ The genius in question says gleefully.  _ “How are you holding up?” _

“Holding up?” Bruce clears his throat. “Uh, fine, I guess?”

_ “Great!” _ the genius chirps.  _ “So Brucie-Bear—you coming to candy land?” _

Above the phone, Bruce meets Jason’s gaze questioningly. 

Jason doesn't know the doctor why was even asking him when the answer was obvious. Still, he nods.  _ It’ll be good for you,  _ he wills Bruce to know. 

Bruce nods as well. “Sure,” he says aloud. 

On the other line, they hear an excited squeal.  _ “Alright!”  _ The billionaire cheers.  _ “I'll pick you up after the… departure, okay?” _

“Oh, okay,” Bruce begins, startled. “But don't forget—”

_ “Put Goldbond on the phone,” _ Tony demands, interrupting Bruce. 

Now it's Jason’s turn to look startled. The phone was already on speakerphone, so Jason just says, “Hello?” somewhat cautiously. 

_ “Goldbond!” _ Tony calls excitedly.  _ “Brucie-Bear is coming back to Stark Tower with me, so you'll be coming too right?” _

Jason’s heart warms at the fact that he'd been asked, even though his company was pretty much a condition for Bruce to come. 

“Of course.”

_ “Yay!” _ The genius cheers.  _ “I'll pick you guys up later. I just had to make sure so that I knew which car to bring.” _

Jason wants to laugh. 

_ “Gotta go,” _ the genius finishes.  _ “Bye!” _

“Bye,” Bruce and Jason chorus together. 

Bruce’s phone hangs up. 

“I didn't know you had his number,” Jason remarks immediately after. 

“I didn't even know I had a phone,” Bruce replies, stumped.

“That, too,” Jason agrees. 

As if hearing their words, the phone begins to ring again. 

Bruce picks it up even more cautiously. 

“Hello…?”

_ “Hey Brucie-Bear!” _ It’s Tony, again. 

“Did you—?” Bruce begins, but Tony interrupts him. 

_ “Yep! I forgot to mention before, but the reason you have that phone is cause I dropped it on you before I left. It's a Starkphone model that isn't even on the market yet. No worries! It's untraceable.” _

Bruce blinks, and Jason thinks,  _ Oh! _

_ “After we meet up again, I'll give Goldbond one too. Didn't want to risk getting caught by his crazy spy senses,” _ the billionaire speaks rapidly.  _ “I gotta go now—Pepper will have my head—so see you guys soon!” _

With finality, the billionaire’s voice disappears, replaced by an empty silence. 

Bruce pulls the phone to him, examining it slowly. “Wow,” he breathes, awed. 

“Well, that answers that question.” 

»•«

The Avengers meet up for the final and only time in the foreseeable future later that day, with one Dr. Erik Selvig, in a small part of Central Park that Tony Stark rents out for the afternoon. 

“So this is it, huh?” The billionaire says, dressed in a new pristine white suit. 

Jason and Bruce are dressed in casual clothes that they'd bought from a convenience earlier that morning, while Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, and Natasha Romanoff are changed into casual clothes as well, and Jason notices that Thor is still wearing his armor. 

“Thank you for allowing me to bring Loki back to Asgard,” Thor bellows. “We will punish Loki for his crimes accordingly.”

Loki looks small standing beside the giant Thor, hands cuffed in front of him and with a mechanism over his mouth that would keep him from talking. 

Jason sees Natasha whisper something over to Clint, who smirks. 

“And thank you for parting with the Tesseract,” Thor continues, “Asgard will take good care of it.”

Doctor Selvig and Bruce do the honors in attaching the Tesseract to a piece of equipment which would send both Thor and Loki back to Asgard. 

Thor then handles the Tesseract carefully, nudging it in Loki’s direction. 

With a roll of his eyes, Loki takes the other half of the Tesseract. In synchronization, they push on both sides of the cube, and Jason watches as they disappear into thin air. 

“Goodbye, my friends!” Thor calls one last time, before he's zipped out of the realm. 

After they've gone, what remains of the Avengers begins to shift off as well. Everyone shakes each other’s hands with newfound respect in their eyes. 

Jason nods at each member of the team, saying his farewells too. 

And then everyone’s leaving, Rogers on some old fashioned motorcycle that was apparently still working, and Barton and Romanoff in a shared car. 

Jason knows that the team will gather again soon enough, but for now, he climbs into the backseat of Tony Stark’s brand new four seater sports car. 

“Ready to see your new home for real now, boys?” Tony comments, as he pulls out of the park. 

“You sure you can handle us?” Bruce asks. Jason doesn't know who the doctor is referring to—himself and Jason, or some other combination with the Hulk?

“Positive,” the genius says confidently, picking up speed. 

Jason settles into his seat. 

A thought comes to him. “Hey, Mr. Stark?”

“What's up, buttercup?” The billionaire meets Jason’s eyes through the upper rear view mirror. “And call me Tony.”

“Alright, Tony…” Jason tries. “Call me Jason.”

“You got it… Jason.” Tony’s eyes seem to twinkle. “Now what did you want to ask?”

“Why do you call me Goldbond?”

Bruce perks up at the question, attention getting piqued as well. 

Tony clears his throat awkwardly, maybe a little uncomfortably. 

“You don't have to tell me, if you're not comfortable—”

“No, it's okay,” the genius says. “The reason I called you Goldbond was—well, because of James Bond, yes. But also because it's a healing cream. A cream that soothes aches.” He clears his throat. “I thought, when I first met you, that you did the same thing for Brucie-Bear over there. You helped him, made him better. That's why I call you Goldbond.”

Jason is struck speechless. It's the most thoughtful explanation he's ever heard. 

Tony shifts in discomfort at the lapse in silence. “If you don't like it anymore—”

“No, no,” Jason interrupts. “I do.”

“And I do, too,” Bruce adds. “That's sweet of you, Tony. I think it's true, too.”

Tony breathes a sigh of relief. “That's good.” He pauses, a smirk alighting his face. “But you know, that won't be the only nickname I’ll give you.”

Jason tilts his head. “What else is there?”

“I don't know, buttercup,” Tony says with a grin. “I guess we’ll see.”

With that the car speeds up even faster. And as Stark Tower comes into view, for the first time, Jason feels excitement. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't believe The Seventh Avenger is complete now... Hope everyone enjoyed! Just wanna say one more time, thank you all SO MUCH for reading, kudos-ing, commenting, bookmarking, and for - well, everything. **Make sure to subscribe to the series, The Bourne Avenger, because _Weapon of Choice,_ a one-shot, should hopefully be posted next week.**
> 
> Thanks again, everyone, for sticking with Jason so far, and hopefully you'll stick around to see him get close to Tony and the Avengers and the MCU. :)


End file.
